At Your Side
by Rhice
Summary: Original Plot: Sakura & Syaoran loathes each other but when water runs deeper they find what intially seemed wrong glaring at them in the face SS ET. [DONE]
1. Chapter 1 The Beginning

Disclaimer: I'll never own CCS  
  
  
  
At Your Side  
  
By Silver MoonStar  
  
Chapter 1: The Beginning  
  
Sakura's POV  
  
Two figures were walking down the empty corridor...  
  
The first was auburn- haired cropped all the way until the chin level which was unlike the style of teenage girls at the age of sixteen. She had bottle green eyes that told the truth about her to the world, that she was not as stern as she may look now. This was Sakura Kinomoto, an all- rounder in Cambridge College in England and one of the most athletic girls around. She was lovable and definitely popular with everyone but one wrong provocation can make the provoker head down to the dumps.  
  
The other was none other than her best friend, Tomoyo Daidouji, who was the songbird of the school. Six years ago, she was usually seen with a video camera taping anything on her path. Now she was heading towards stardom with a budding directing crew. To add more to her success, she was also an even more of a successor at designing clothes. Her ravishing beauty was a challenger of the sweet Sakura but no one could deny that amethyst-eyed, raven-haired girl was a head -turner wherever she went.  
  
"Ugh! Why does the spare room have to be rented out to some dumb guys?!" Sakura groaned. She had a crusty voice that was oddly pleasant to the ears of listeners. "They did it fair and square upon applying and we made our deal on balloting. You can't complain on that can you, Sakura? You're usually the one who says that if everything is fair and square, you can't object," Tomoyo replied in her own dulcet voice. "Besides, maybe you might fall."  
  
"Don't even suggest such a thing, I'm not as boy- crazy as you are. Besides, I'm going to apply for the National University. I don't have time for such trifle things as that. uh. things," Sakura snapped.  
  
Tomoyo sighed, "You're never interested in this kind of things, Sakura. Oh well, you'll turn up soon I guess. Come on, it's late. The school's almost empty. We have to meet our young gentlemen. I suppose they're rather lonely and confused, being new around here."  
  
"Trust you to be fastidious to strangers. Well, you can count on me to show them that we're not girl ladies," Sakura grinned evilly. Tomoyo gave an all- knowing look that was unseen to Sakura.  
  
Together, they walked out of school with their heads up high for two different reasons; Sakura, ready to make a horrible welcome; Tomoyo, knowing something was definitely going to happen.  
  
Syoaran's POV  
  
The train whistle blew loud and shrill. The night sky was dotted with small tinkling stars. Trees hurried past while the train continued to run at an incredible speed.  
  
A chestnut- haired, bronze- eyed boy sat at a window seat in a train compartment. The rushing wind blew his messy hair across his eyes. He didn't bother to push them back to their place. For one thing, he knew it would only prove futile and for the second he was too abstracted on thinking about his new environment. The distraction placed a serious frown on the boy's hard face. Serious and full of self- esteem, this was Li Syoaran, leader of the Li Clan of Hong Kong.  
  
The train compartment's door slid open. Another tall young man came in. This one was much different from the latter. He navy- blue hair contrasted sharply on the rather pale face. His cobalt- eyes were framed by a thin metal frame, black glasses suggesting a studious look. But a small smile set by his lips was all there is to make the differentiation between him and his companion. This more positive lad was Hiiragizawa Eriol, a young man with an inclination towards music and charming manners.  
  
"Sorry, Syoaran, traveling on trains always make me sick," Eriol smiled apologetically. "You still have the nerve to smile after all those little trips to the loo, huh?" Syoaran looked at his friend. Both of them were quite alike in their expressions; Eriol had a smile plastered on his face for twenty four seven so it seems while Syoaran rarely smile and preferred to support the scowlers around the world wherever he went.  
  
"It's a habit," Eriol replied. He never seemed to get insulted or offended, making him the kind of person one could tell him in the face to f*%^ off and yet be friends with him.  
  
Eriol sat down hesitantly and stared around for a bit. Syoaran did a mental countdown from five 'Three. two. one.' Automatically, a pale green tinge crept onto the pale white face and the boy immediately covered his mouth, with a sound of 'Sorry', stood up and went off into the direction of the restroom.  
  
When the compartment door slid close, Syoaran smiled in amusement before sighing and continued dreaming. ~~~~()~~~~ At long last, the train arrived at the Central Station of England. "Ahh, home again," Eriol jumped down from the train steps with haste. Syoaran however shook his head in disapproval on Eriol's over- enthusiasm.  
  
"Not bad," Syoaran commented looking around the station. He lugged his baggage on his back and came down the steps. As soon as he got off the contraption, the train whizzed off.  
  
"Come on, we have to be at the apartment by 8," Eriol said heading towards the exit. "Tell me once more why our housemates have to be girls?" Eriol gave a sigh and replied long- suffering, "Because we chose the room remember?"  
  
"That was before I found out the other people living there were females," Syoaran muttered. He followed his friend out of the vacant station.  
  
General POV  
  
"Tell me again why they have to be boys?" Sakura groaned while she set the table. Tomoyo rolled her eyes and replied, "They applied for the room before we transferred into this apartment. Actually many applied for it all we had to do was ballot if you remembered correctly." Sakura heaved in impatiently and asked, "So why do we have to have dinner with them? I've got a lot of homework you know, from Mr. Walter."  
  
"You can't trick me Sakura, you did the homework this afternoon in class. You advance math teacher took of a medical leave or something," Tomoyo said. She had put the final Japanese dish on the table. Sakura stared at the sushi and raised an eyebrow. "Sushi? What're their names?" Sakura seemed curious all of a sudden. "It's on the coffee table, the confirmation slip," Tomoyo said, proceeding to her room to brush up her hair.  
  
Sakura leaned over to he coffee table and picked up the piece of paper. She scanned the 'Name' section. 'Li Syoaran or Li Xiao Lang; Little Wolf' Sakura translated using the basic knowledge of Mandarin. 'We'll see if I can reduce the 'little' to 'tiny' after I deal with him. And the other is Eriol Hiiragizawa. A Japanese. So that's why the re is sushi. I think I can trust myself to lower my dignity and play a little prank'  
  
Sakura looked around her and made sure Tomoyo was still inside her room. Then, she slinked to the kitchen area and to a look inside the fridge. She rummaged noiselessly around the stuff. 'Where is it? It was here the day before.. ah' Sakura picked out a small green tube of paste. This was the wasabe paste. 'Too bad we don't have the powder form' Sakura thought evilly.  
  
She went back to the dining area and applied some paste on three out of the five sushi on the plate. Luckily for her, Tomoyo didn't like Japanese cuisine that much so she probably wouldn't take a bite and Sakura would take one of the 'un-wasabe-d' sushi.  
  
Suddenly Tomoyo burst out of her room and nearly yelled at Sakura, "Did you hear the doorbell ring?" Sakura stared at her, bewildered, "No."  
  
"Well, it's definitely ringing now," Tomoyo shrugged off the mild anger. The constant irritating sound of the buzzer was echoing through the hallway. "Well? Go get it," Tomoyo ordered Sakura in a motherly way.  
  
"Yes, ma'am," Sakura grinned. She gave a dramatic bow before walking off to the door. Tomoyo smiled at her and went into her room again to fix up her hair again.  
  
The doorbell rang persistently throughout the time Sakura took to get to the entrance. "Can you quit it!!!?" Sakura shouted crossly. She swung open the door roughly.  
  
The two boys outside stepped back. Eriol looked extremely sheepish since he was the ringer. Syoaran glared at the girl standing in the doorway. He saw what he usually sees in girls, a young, immature bimbo. But when his eyes met the furious emerald eyes, he had second thoughts but nevertheless- "That was rude of you to swing open the door," Syoaran commented giving Sakura an icy glare.  
  
"That was rude of you keep on ringing the doorbell," Sakura shot back. "That was me, sorry. I had rarely had a chance to ring doorbells ever since I was young so yours turned me on," Eriol spoke up. He grinned apologetically.  
  
Sakura stood where she was without moving. The boys looked at her expectantly. "Well, aren't you going to open the gate?" Syoaran asked at last after a long period of silence. "Sorry, I can't, until you tell me who you are," Sakura pretended not to know. "You jolly well know who we are. Now unlock the gate," Syoaran was losing patience fast.  
  
"No I don't know who you are. And unless you introduce yourselves, we'll probably stand here the whole night, well at least two of you will. I have to go to sleep when it gets late. I've got school you know," Sakura said stubbornly. 'Let's have some fun before I have turn them in' Sakura thought mischievously.  
  
"The nerve of you-" Syoaran fumed. Eriol interrupted hastily, "Listen miss, we're the new tenants of the spare room in your apartment. Will you be so kind as to let us in?"  
  
"Well, why didn't you say so? Come in," Sakura said innocently. She unlocked the gate. "We don't let strangers into the house. You know, we can't be too open right?" Sakura continued as though she really didn't know who the two boys were at first.  
  
"Sakura! What held you up?" Tomoyo waved her arms to welcome the two new people. Sakura stared at her. She looked as though she was going to hug the boys instead of just welcoming them.  
  
"And who is this charming lady?" Eriol dropped his bags and swept a deep bow. "Tomoyo Daidouji, young sir," Tomoyo blushed a deep red. At the exact same time, both Sakura and Syoaran rolled their eyes and 'hmmph'ed. They caught each other's eyes for a nanosecond before turning away re-realising their detestation for each other.  
  
"Can we eat now?" Sakura said in deliberate loudness. "And if you two should know, your rooms are at the end of the corridor." Sakura pointed towards the corridor.  
  
"Thank you," Eriol said politely. He shot Sakura a grin while Syoaran only grunted to show that he understood. Tomoyo giggled and offered to show them the way. Eriol accepted her offer graciously. Syoaran marched off by himself.  
  
"It's only at the end of the corridor for goodness sakes," Sakura muttered. She shoved the wasabe tube into her skirt pocket when she noticed that she still had it in her hands. Then she sat on a chair and waited patiently. 'The usage of short division is to help ease the extra working and works more effectively than the longer ones. Wonder who started that crap? Long division is much easier I might say' Sakura thought of the advance mathematics that she so much hate.  
  
"Sorry to keep you waiting. We got.er.lost," Tomoyo stumbled on her words. 'Yeah, down a corridor?' Sakura didn't bother to reply. "Can we eat now?" Syoaran said in his bored voice. "Sure, I made sushi if you missed the Asian counterpart, you know. being half-way around the world," Tomoyo said passing the plate of wasabe-d sushi. Sakura immediately grabbed for one of the plain ones before it was too late.  
  
Everyone stared at her rash action. "Uh. I just got a.uh. sudden urge for sushi," Sakura tried to cover up for her behavior. Tomoyo looked at her suspiciously. Knowing Sakura when she wasn't a welcoming host, Tomoyo knew the girl had something up her sleeve. Eriol shrugged, "I guess being in England for so long made you miss your homeland, huh?"  
  
Sakura nodded and took a bite out of her sushi. "Aren't you from Japan too?" she asked civilly. "My mum was a westerner and my dad was a Japanese, they died when I was young," Eriol said wistfully. "Oh," Sakura looked uncomfortable. "I know how it feels. I lost my mother when I was 3. My brother is still in Japan and my dad is in the Grand Canyon, he's an archaeologist. So our family is kind of split up. Being away from loved ones makes you pine for them, I guess. But losing one is the worst."  
  
"Yeah, but if you're beside them each day, you wished they'd go away, right squirt?" Tomoyo teased. Sakura laughed. She felt warm now except for that Li guy. He was the only one that was still cold and aloof.  
  
"So, Li, have you ever lost a loved one?" Tomoyo asked the serious brunette. "My dad," Syoaran replied shortly. He went in for a sushi. Sakura's eyes gleamed enthusiastically. It was spiced and any moment now. "Argh!!"  
  
Syoaran seized his glass of water and gulped down huge amounts. "What happened?" Eriol and Tomoyo asked him anxiously. "That sushi was hot!" Syoaran replied wiping away the flecks of water around his mouth. Tomoyo giggled, "I know I make quite good sushi but no one ever said they were hot!"  
  
"Not that hot. Spicy hot. My tongue felt as though it was burning!" Syoaran replied irritably. "Wasabe. only wasabe will ever make such an effect," Eriol mused. "I didn't put any wasabe in the sushi." Tomoyo turned her gaze slowly on Sakura.  
  
Sakura was chuckling and grinning roguishly. "You should have seen your face, Li Syoaran!" Sakura said in between her laughter. "So it was you, Kinomoto Sakura!" Syoaran got up fuming. Sakura burst into more laughter, "You should see your face now, it's as red as a tomato and radiant as the setting sun! Are you more to embarrassment or anger? Can't tell can you?"  
  
Li was beside himself with frustration and embarrassment. "Watch out, Kinomoto Witch, I will set your crooked back straight up!" With that he huffed off and slammed the door of his room.  
  
"I don't need your free straightening. I can do it myself see?" Sakura sat straight up. She was still snickering.  
  
"Really Sakura, a girl of your age shouldn't be acting that way," Tomoyo said disapprovingly. Sakura chortled and replied, "I can act anyway I please. Why should I be all prim and proper because there are some newbies around?" She got up, still sniggering. "Syoaran does need humor in his life with all that responsibility he has but still." Eriol said.  
  
"Oh both of you are just spoil- sports. So what's a little prank once in a while when you're sixteen? I've still got more than half a lifetime to go," Sakura shut herself inside her room. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*  
  
A/N: So how was that? Sakura's a bit prankish and serious at the same time in this story and Li's more serious and will loosen up after a while. Eriol acts like the genius and Tomoyo is more matured a bit snobbish later on. Can't tell much of the plot, though, darn! ( R+R pwease! I'll accept ideas too! 


	2. Chapter 2 A Short Detour

Disclaimer: I will never own CCS  
  
At Your Side  
  
By Silver Moonstar Chapter 2: A Short Detour.  
  
Syaoran POV  
  
'How dare that bimbo-girl embarrass me like that! We'll see who gets the last laugh' Syaoran thought angrily. (A/N: Sorry to call Sakura a 'bimbo- girl' but I have to make it sound as though he really is angry. People call others weird names when the get angry. I bet you have done it too, right? Or you might be calling me one now. ( and I suppose Li has a rugged side on this part of the story)  
  
He leaned back against his closed door. Without due reason he took out a packet of cigarettes and lit up one. He sat there in the dark, smoking. Outside, it was dark too since Tomoyo and Eriol had turned in for the night. Li Syaoran he had the night for him to think through his thoughts when all of a sudden the door swung open.  
  
Li fell on his back with the cigarette still in his right hand. He saw a figure clad in pink pajamas and had reddish-brown hair looking down at him. The face got nearer he saw a glint of green reflected by the moonlight streaming in through the bare windows.  
  
"It's you!" Li spat out. "Don't smoke you're only sixteen. And you're not suppose to smoke at this age," Sakura picked out the cigarette from his hand. She crushed it to ashes when she ground it underneath her foot.  
  
"What is it that you want?" Syaoran asked coldly. He stood up and glared at her in the eye.  
  
Sakura's POV (In her words)  
  
He stood up and stared at me in the eye. I realized his was half a head taller than me but I won't be intimidated. I glared directly back at him. "If you really must now, I came here to say sorry," I replied icily. "But seems like someone needs and attitude adjustment. So we're even now. Good night, Li Syaoran."  
  
I turned and walked away. I could feel his burning gaze on my back. I hadn't been as contrary as I usually was to aloofness. So what was me holding back? I wondered. But my curiousness wasn't strong enough to pull me back on pondering the subject.  
  
When I got into my room. I stared around in the dark. My room was immaturely pink but that was my favorite color so it wasn't wrong. All of sudden I remembered the cold amber eyes. I could see past the coldness that shielded the real emotion it held. But does sadness counts on someone who doesn't seem to have feelings except for anger and frustration. Those two are about the same. (A/N: Ahh. the symptoms are starting. But we shall delay them won't we? *grins evilly*) Syaoran's POV (In his Words) I watched the retreating back disappear into the room near the end of the corridor. 'Who is she to judge me?' I thought. I shut my door and undressed to get ready for sleep. The night was a balmy one for an autumn night in cold England. I tossed and turned fitfully.  
  
The infuriating lime green eyes keep illuminating inside my mind's eye. The look she shot at me penetrated through my skin like hot knives cutting through butter. A look I never saw before. Nobody has ever given me the full glare as though they can see right into my heart and my soul. Until she came around.  
  
Finally I snapped open my eyes and stared up at the ceiling. I notice a square trapdoor up in the ceiling. A handle lay, nailed to the trapdoor, tempting me to pull it and open the trap. And I did.  
  
Unlike what I expected, nothing came crashing down. No black plastic bags filled with old toys or some junk. No spiders or any insects' dead bodies poured all over me. Above the apartment was an attic since we were at the top of the building. After that was the roof of course.  
  
I pulled myself up and climbed into the dark attic. To my surprise I saw a light bulb swinging as though someone had previously bumped into it. The attic room was bare with dusty floorboards. An exception was corner near another trapdoor that was swung open from another room. The corner was kept unbelievably clean due to the fact that there were several items arranged in accordance to the decorator.  
  
Gingerly, I crawled towards the particular corner and observed it. There was a picture of a lovely lady with long wavy gray hair. Around her were pink cherry blossoms, which was quite unusual for a country like England, which had rare Cherry Blossom trees. There was a teddy bear at one end. As it sat, it held a photo frame, which was a picture of a family. My eyes traveled across it. There was a be-spectacled man who look quite similar to Eriol, a teenage crosspatch and in the middle was a girl who looked like."Sakura?!" "Yes, me," a voice said behind me.  
  
Sakura's POV (In her Words) *Sakura's Room* To my surprise the room felt warm. Funny, I thought, it never get this warm in England. Maybe another night on the roof would be good. I glanced at the trapdoor, which was unforgivably appealing. There were two in the apartment. One was in my room and the other was in one of those annoying boys' room. I just hoped that they were as dense as they looked and not find the secret attic room and the opening to the refreshing rooftop.  
  
I stood on my bed, which lay right underneath the trapdoor, and pulled the handle. I pulled myself up and got into the room. It was pitch dark, as it should be thankfully. I roved around for the switch of the tiny light bulb that hung old fashioned-ly in the center of the room. I tugged the switch and almost immediately a dim orange light lightened the whole area. I turned around to look at my special corner.  
  
My special corner was the area where I placed all the items that return my memories of my family. I sat down in front of it and gazed at the photo of my beloved mother. She was gorgeous in the picture. But she was gone. only a blissful memory in my mind not someone I can hug, run into or anything. But I've always thought she was watching over me as beautiful angel (A/N: Boy, does she know anything?(). I hugged the picture possessively. A tear rolled down my cheek. Then I put it down and stared at the other picture that was one with my family now. Touya, Dad and me in the center. I was ten during then. A mere girl in a world that was so threatening and cruel. Now here I am, in a college in England, heading for the University, I realized. I fingered the fresh cherry blossoms that I had received from an order from the florist the day before. "We are one, not physically, yes, but in our hearts we are," I whispered to my family. I wiped away the lingering tear hastily when I heard a sound behind me. The extra trapdoor was opening!  
  
In my rush to hide, I bumped the light bulb. 'Dolt!' I cursed myself mentally. I his in the shadows and saw who it was that disturbed my peace moment. My worst expectation came true and I saw it was brown-headed fool who was the inheritor of the extra trap. He looked around for a bit while I held my breath. For a moment he stared at the swinging bulb. Then his eyes rested on my corner. He clambered clumsily into the attic and lumbered like a bear to my corner. He watched Mom's photo for a while and then he saw the family picture. "Sakura?!" he said, sputtering. I crept behind him and said coldly, "Yes, me."  
  
General POV "You?" Syaoran said incredulously. "There's nothing wrong with it, I believe," Sakura snapped. Syaoran studied the picture for a moment and then glanced up at the girl then back at the photo. Sakura then looked much happier and cheerful then Sakura now.  
  
'She's in need of something' Li realizes. "Are you done with staring at the picture?" Sakura asked impatiently. She didn't like the way he was observing both her and the picture. His amber eyes were looking past her mask of coolness and dignity, so it seems, seeing her darkest fears and deep longing.  
  
"Once you're done with it just return to your room, okay?" Sakura cooled down. She headed towards the roof entrance. "Where're you going?" Li asked. He was surprised at her last comment. She didn't say anything with her cutting tongue. "I'm going on the roof," Sakura replied. She opened the door. The night wind whipped her hair across her porcelain white face. She felt a sudden need to be kind and said without thinking, "You may come if you want to. But don't disturb me." She added.  
  
'Maybe I can learn more about her life and probably plot something from that' Li said (A/N: Eeviil ain't he? Sakura's trying to be kind and he's like plotting revenge for that wasabe incident)  
  
Li followed Sakura up to the roof. It was as chilly outside as it was warm inside. Sakura had her sweater on but Li.(A/N: Heh.heh.) was only in his boxers.  
  
He shuddered in the cold. "D.Do you always g.go up he.here, Kinomoto?" Li asked sitting quite uncomfortably in the cold and on the roof tiles, beside Sakura. "When I feel lonely, I guess," Sakura replied looking dreamily at the stars in the sky. There was a silence in between them before Sakura decided to break it by asking a question, "Do you think of your Dad sometimes?"  
  
Li stared at her for a moment. He wondered what could possibly made her ask the question. Then he replied, "I don't know. I don't have much time to myself with all the things I need to do. But sometimes I remember him and I wonder whether he remembers me." He looked so downcast that Sakura felt pitiful. "My dad told me once that lost loved ones never forget who they loved. So if your Dad loved you then he will remember you at watch over you," Sakura said simply.  
  
'She thinks so simple- mindedly' Li thought, 'Yet she doesn't seem to be bothered by it' Then he was enraptured by her dreamy emerald eyes. 'There it is again, the look of yearning for something' he realized.  
  
" What do you need to do?" Sakura turned to look at him. Her sudden movement made him blush swiftly. He turned away. Sakura frowned at him, 'What is this guy problem?' She studied him while her replied, "I'm the next leader to my clan. So I have to be in control of what I do at all times. I have to be an all- rounder and be in control of my emotions even when they're over the brim, y. you know what I mean?" Great, why was he stuttering?  
  
Sakura thought differently, 'Control, control, control. this guy is a control freak. And he's so overprotected by that shell of his that he acts like a brat.a gaki, Chinese gaki, Touya would call him that for sure.'  
  
"Gomen, Li-kun but don't you feel over pressured by all that responsibility you have?" Sakura asked politely. "I got used to it over the years, I suppose," Li replied. Sakura shook her head slightly. She got up and said, "I'm going in, I think you'd better too, seeing you're only in your shorts." She giggled and pointed before going into the attic again. Syaoran blushed a deep maroon. ******************************* A/N: Heh, heh, I know this Chappie is rather long and boring but I did it to tell what Sakura's and Syaoran's thoughts for each other are currently like. R+R please! And you can tell me how I can improve and all the downsides of this story. I don't mind flames either. 


	3. Chapter 3 Challenges Coming

Disclaimer: I will never own CCS *darn*  
  
At Your Side  
  
By Silver MoonStar  
  
Chapter 3: A Challenger Mentally, Physically, Academically, (You get the picture)  
  
General POV  
  
"Sakura!!! Get up!" Tomoyo yelled into Sakura's bedroom. With a loud yawn and big stretch the girl got up casually until she saw her alarm clock - "7.45??!! I'm running late!!!" She grabbed her clothes that were all over the place. Then she grabbed her towel and rushed to the bathroom at a record's time.  
  
When Sakura got out of the showers it was exactly 8am. Everyone was nearly out of the door. "Sakura!!!" Tomoyo called. "I know, I know, I'm coming," Sakura said shoving a piece of toast into her mouth. She skidded in front of the doorway, pulled out her keys and slammed the door shut before locking the gate. Together they rushed off to college without another word.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Huffing and puffing, our CCS gang arrived at school 5 minutes after admission. "Ahh, nice of you to join us," the teacher said. The class twittered with whispers and giggles. Sakura blushed a deep crimson. Tomoyo just grinned while the other two looked quite out of place. "Sorry, Mr. Seanen, I overslept," Sakura spoke up. "Take your seats," Mr. Seanen said sternly. Sakura went to the near end of the room where her seat was and Tomoyo sat beside her, followed by eyes. Syaoran scowled while Eriol had one his usual smile.  
  
"You two?" Mr. Seanen questioned. "We're the new students," Eriol said politely. "First day here and you're late?" the man asked raising his black eyebrows. "We were in the same apartment as the girls so we left late because one of them was hard to wake up," Li growled. "You could have jolly well turn up earlier, why did you have to wait?" Mr. Seanen said in his contrary voice. Li didn't reply. 'Great, my first impression was bad' he thought.  
  
But the teacher didn't dig into the matter anymore. He turned to the class and said, "Right, class. Today we have two new members to our merry gang. This is Eriol Hiiragizawa and Syaoran Li." Eriol bowed the traditional Japanese bow but Li remained as he was on managing a itsy bitsy smile(A/N: Real cold as a stinking fish isn't he?). A silence proceed after that. "Take your seats gentlemen," Mr. Seanen gritted, "Do I have to instruct you to do everything?"  
  
The class sniggered including Sakura and Tomoyo. The two climbed up the steps looking for a place to sit (A/N: The classroom is sort of those lecture places in Universities, you know the one with the steps). A lot of girls signal to Li to sit beside them wherever there was an empty space. Some even shifted places to allow space. But the latter climbed steadily on with his companion until he reached to the back, behind Sakura and Madison.  
  
"Now can we start the lesson properly?" Mr. Seanen asked patiently. Eriol gave a thumbs up. Li got out his stationery and notepad.  
  
"Today's lesson in our Literature Class is on the works of Shakespeare. . ." Mr. Seanen started. Everyone groaned. "I know you guys don't like him that much but at the end of this term, we will have to do a play. Either that or I get to choose the play," Mr. Seanen said good- naturedly. "Oh Romeo, Romeo. . ." a girl sitting front exaggerated. All the girls giggled. "Now, now Mary- Beth. We may not be doing Romeo and Juliet," Mr. Seanen smiled. "Bubble, bubble toil and trouble," another boy commented. "Shut up Leo!" his friend snapped. "Let's do A Midsummer Nights' Dream," Madison contributed. "Yeah!" several others supported her idea.  
  
Seeing that several students were already agreeing to the idea. "That's one for the Midsummer Nights' Dream. Any other suggestions?"  
  
It went on for the rest of the lesson. In the end, A Midsummer's Night Dream, Hamlet, Othello, Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth tied each other. "Tonight, your only homework for Literature class is to research on which play is appropriate. Class dismissed," Mr. Seanen said. He gathered up his things and rushed off. The class took their time on packing up.  
  
"So, Madison which play do you think it's going to be?" Sakura asked her friend. "I'm still going for my suggestion," Madison said. Slinging her bag strap over her shoulder. "Why not Romeo and Juliet?" Eriol asked from behind her. "Ugh, too mushy," Sakura muttered. "I agree with Sakura and besides we don't want a flooded auditorium after that do we?" Madison grinned. "What about you Li?" Sakura asked the silent boy. "Macbeth," he replied dully. "Eye of newt, Lizards Tongue. . ." Sakura chanted running down the steps.  
  
"See you at the apartment later!" she shouted going out of the door [followed by several boys (]. "Where is she going?" Eriol asked curiously. "Cheerleading Practice," Madison said going down the stairs with him. Li stared after them. He was alone, as usual.  
  
"Hey, Li. . ." a girl stood beside him. Li turned and saw a blonde girl with blue eyes smiling flirtatiously at him. He heard giggles coming from the bottom of the room. There were several other girls gathered in a group pretending they weren't looking. 'They're going to get a piece of Li Syaoran, watch me,' Li thought evilly.  
  
"Yeah?" Li said casually. The girl giggled, "I'm Jessica Lange." "So?" Li asked coldly. The girl seemed unruffled. "I think we'd make a cute couple if we're acting Romeo and Juliet," Jessica said still giggling. 'God, this girl is so straight' Li thought. "Listen, Jessie or whatever your name is, I'm really busy, can we talk about this later?" Li said moving away. "Bye sweetie- pie," Jessica called after him while he went down. 'That is so damn revolting' Li shook his head. When he passed Jessica's group, she was there telling her tale. "He called me Jessie!" she giggled. The other girls burst into squeals of laughter.  
  
As he was passing the field where there were several boys playing soccer, a ball came speeding towards him. "Look out!" everyone on the field yelled. He dropped his books immediately and with quick reflexes, he kick the ball with incredible force that went straight into the goal(A/N: This scene is from the episode of the Time Card right?). Everyone else was stunned and still dazed. "Hey! You there!" the coach called directing at him. Li himself look pleasantly happy at what he did. "Would you join our team?" the coach yelled at him. Li waved back to agree, dropping his serious pose. "What's your name kid?" the coach shouted again at him.  
  
"Syaoran, Li Syaoran," Li hollered not even annoyed at the "kid". The coach scribbled something on his board. 'So it wasn't that bad after all' Li thought contentedly, walking past swooning, admiring girls. Sakura's POV "So, Sakura, how is Li like?" Chiharu asked. "Why would you want to know?" Sakura asked back, twirling her baton expertly. "Just wanted to ask," Chelsea replied while they toss the batons into the air. "He's confusing at extremely bad- tempered," Sakura replied catching the baton (A/N: She mastered the move! Yay!). "Just the way I like it, tall, dark and handsome," Chiharu said.  
  
"And the way I like it," a new voice entered. It was Jessica (the irritating brat again). She had tied up her hair into an elegant ponytail. "Hi, Jessica," Sakura greeted her politely. She wasn't one to be rude (A/N: Except to poor Li!). "Listen Kinomoto, if I catch you and him-- " Jessica threatened. "Relax, I can't stand that gaki anyways," Sakura said reassuringly. "What's a gaki?" Jessica asked suspiciously. " A brat," Chiharu giggled. "Whatever, just don't go near him," Jessica said walking away.  
  
"B*tch," Chiharu muttered. "leave her be, people like that never get paid out in the end, besides Li is a gaki," Sakura chuckled. She jumped over Chiharu's back and landed with a clean split. Everyone around her applauded. No one could do a finishing move with a split except Sakura. Sakura beamed. "Good, Sakura," the Cheerleader congratulated her. "You should be in my rank." "No, I still can't master a few moves yet," Sakura said modestly. "Don't be so modest Sakura," Rika, Naoko and almost all the others cheered her on. Sakura blushed (#^_^#!). Only one person wasn't happy, yep, it was Jessica.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Tomoyo's POV "That's creative Tanya, yeah you could trim down that side, wait!" Tomoyo was saying. She rushed to the screen and pushed up a strand of hair of the actress filming. "Continue." "Back to you Tanya, I think the dress is really good. How did you design it that way? It's ingenious," Tomoyo praised the girl. Tanya was in Tomoyo's crew of budding directors and designers. Right now they were having a mini discussion. Tanya's blush was clear even against her dark skin. Tomoyo was a good director, designer and chairperson.  
  
"Are you sure?" Tanya asked humbly. "I am never unsure," Tomoyo said firmly.  
  
"Ms. Tomoyo," someone called from the doorway of the small studio, "Someone is here to meet you." Tomoyo looked up and motioned at Tanya to wait for a moment. Eriol was standing at the door. Her heart skipped a beat. 'What's wrong with me? I've only known him for a day and this?' Tomoyo wondered.  
  
"Are you busy?" Eriol ask in his charming voice. "Quite," Tomoyo replied managing to not cause a tremble in her voice. "Oh, I suppose I'll tell you later then," Eriol look downed. Tomoyo looked at him. It was obvious that he was at the verge of bursting out something. "I think I can wrap up my work," Tomoyo said. "Just hold on for a minute." Eriol's smile returned.  
  
Tomoyo rushed back to Tanya, "Sorry-" Tanya smiled understandingly, "You can't let that guy wait for you. . ." "Thanks," Tomoyo nodded. She grabbed hold of the papers of Tanya's dress design. "I'll try to see if I can make any improvement in it for you." Tanya nodded while Tomoyo dashed out with Eriol.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The café's air-con was slightly chilly. Tomoyo and Eriol sat at a secluded corner. "What's up?" Tomoyo's heart beat at an abnormal rate. "Uh. . . you see. . . there's this girl," Eriol began hesitatingly. 'OMG!' Tomoyo exclaimed inside her mind.  
  
"Yes," Tomoyo encouraged him. Eriol opened his mouth but a waitress zoomed up between them, "What would you like?" "A. . . frappacino (A/N: Is that how they spell it?)," Eriol said. "Just hot tea for me a one sugar cube," Tomoyo added. The waitress rushed off. "Well?" Tomoyo turned back to Eriol. "There's this girl I know. . . ever since I was young," Eriol said hurriedly. Tomoyo's heart sank but she didn't show it, "And?" "Her name is Kaho Mizuki, and I. . ." Eriol stuttered. "You think you love her but you don't know how to tell her?" Tomoyo grinned mischievously. She didn't want to break his heart so let's play matchmaker for a while.  
  
"Uh. . ." Eriol stared at the table. Tomoyo knew she had hit home. "First, what makes you love her?" Tomoyo asked. "I guess whenever I talk to her, her golden- brown eyes just tell the truth and she makes me feel happy whenever I'm around her. . ." Eriol said. His eyes had a dreamy look in them while he talked. 'He's in love all right' Tomoyo sighed. "Tell, her!" Tomoyo said. "How?" Eriol snapped back. "You want it to be something fancy like in a song or something?" Tomoyo started to lose patience. "I don't know. . ." Eriol replied quietly. "Think about it, kay? When you've decided, tell me," Tomoyo patted his hand. Eriol looked up and for once he saw Tomoyo in a different light.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ A/N: This one is quite short but I think it's obvious that E+T moments are coming up and S+S is quite apparent. Which play should the class act? And what do you guys think of Jessica? Or Kaho? R+R please Byee!!! 


	4. Chapter 4 Over Dinner

Disclaimer: I do not own CCS  
  
A/N: I re-edited this to make it have more sense. It was senseless in the first shot, Sorry ^_^!  
  
At Your Side  
  
By Silver MoonStar  
  
Chapter 4: Over Dinner  
  
General POV  
  
"Tomoyo! I'm home," Sakura shouted when she entered the apartment. Silence greeted her. 'That's weird, she should be here by now' Sakura frowned. She ran to the kitchen and saw a note on refrigerator. "To Sakura, I'm going to be late for a bit, cook your own food for once. Leave some for me. I don't know about the boys, think that for yourself- Tomoyo," Sakura read. The girl dumped her bag into her room and donned her faded denim skirt and a pale pink T- Shirt.  
  
"At last, I get to cook!" Sakura said loudly. What'd I cook?" She flipped through recipe books that were lined by the side of the stove. Sakura settled with making a simple soup with noodles. It was less the hassle anyway.  
  
She set to work with chopping the vegetables and saw to the boiling water. She added spices and bits of fish, chicken, mushrooms and other ingredients. It smelled quite nice in the end. Then, she checked the noodles which she had steamed earlier on. "Heavenly. . ." Sakura sniffed the sweet spicy aroma. Someone sneezed behind her.  
  
Sakura turned around swiftly and saw Syaoran rubbing his nose. He had apparently been sleeping since his hair was even more tousled than ever. "Where did you come from? I didn't hear the door open," Sakura demanded right away. Syaoran scowled, "I was here before you came back home. So don't start rattling off."  
  
Sakura didn't start but she didn't say a word anymore and Syaoran found the silence quite annoying. "What are you doing?" he asked finally. "I was cooking. Tomoyo is coming home later than usual," Sakura replied curtly. She poured some of the soup into a bowl. "I'm going to take a shower," Syaoran said and went off.  
  
"Nobody's stopping you. . ." Sakura muttered. Fortunately, he didn't hear her comment. Sakura set the table. She wondered whether Eriol was back yet. So she went to his room.  
  
Eriol's room was a mysterious, shadowy place. Sakura felt a strong aura of Clow Reed's magic. 'He has magic???' Sakura wondered. Cautiously, she stepped out of it, not wanting to stir anything. She bumped onto someone. Sakura swallowed a lump in her throat and turned.  
  
It was Eriol. The boy's azure eyes hardened slightly. "What are you doing snooping around my room?" he asked quite coldly. "I- I'm sorry. . . I was wondering whether you were back yet. . ." Sakura stammered. Eriol at this condition looked daunting. He smiled surprisingly, "Well, I'm here." "Um. . . dinner's ready- Tomoyo's not here- hope you like the food. . ." Sakura scuttled off thankfully. 'Has she found out yet? The Clow Mistress should be just as skillful. But what is this tug I feel of somebody else disturbing the balance?' Eriol watch Sakura go down the corridor. His eyebrows drew to a V- shape above his eyes. Problems, too many at one time. . .  
  
Dinner was very quiet. Syaoran was his usual self, hardly or not talking at all. Eriol had his dignified pose on and Sakura was just a bundle of nerves. "So. how was school today?" Sakura burst the bubble of silence. "Great," Syaoran spoke. It was surprising to them and even to him that he even made a distinct sound.  
  
"Really? How?" Sakura arched her eyebrow. Syaoran froze realizing that he had actually sound out his thoughts. "Well?" Eriol asked. Syaoran could hear the tone of mischief in his voice. It meant that Eriol had taken a walk in his mind again. 'My cute little descendent, aren't you going to finish your reply?' Eriol's mind voice said inside Syaoran's. 'Stop doing that will you? It's rude and besides that it's unfair that I can't read your mind' Syaoran replied.  
  
Sakura saw Eriol and Syaoran looking at each other. Syaoran was glaring while Eriol was smirking. And there was a tinge of magic. 'What are they doing?' Sakura grimaced. She decided to let the cat out of the bag at last, "If you two are using magic, it's not very well hidden is it?"  
  
Syaoran looked amazed while Eriol looked smug. "I knew you caught up quite soon, Clow Mistress," Eriol smiled. "How- " Sakura started. "He's a reincarnation of Clow Reed," Syaoran glowered. Silence receded on the table again. This time the arrival of Tomoyo was the interrupter. "I'm home. . ." Tomoyo cried out from the passage.  
  
They all look up from their bowls. "Why is it so quiet?" Tomoyo sounded confused. She appeared at the dining area carrying grocery bags. Her raven hair looked wind- blown while her pale forehead was dripping with sweat. Eriol stood up without a word and took some bags from her clutches. Sakura and Syaoran saw they held each other's gaze for a while before breaking away.  
  
'Chemistry is going on' Sakura thought. 'I thought he was on for Kaho?' Syaoran thought instead. Tomoyo took off her coat. She sat down beside Sakura. "What did you cook?" she asked breathlessly. "Minestrone soup," Sakura said. Tomoyo took a look at the soup, "Look's like you put in more than enough ingredients. Smells nice anyway."  
  
Sakura blushed at her first sentence. Tomoyo reached for a bowl and scooped up some of the soup, "Noodles?" "Kitchen," Sakura replied. Tomoyo got up and disappeared into the kitchen. Sakura and Syaoran stared at each other. A loud thump emitted from the kitchen. Sakura and Syaoran stared at one another in surprise. But no commotion followed suit. "Maybe Tomoyo slipped a bowl or something. . ." Sakura said convincingly. Syaoran nodded.  
  
"What's the matter?!!" Eriol's voice blasted. The two at the dining table got up. "Nothing!" Tomoyo shouted back. Sakura and Syaoran looked at each other, totally bewildered. Tomoyo burst out of the kitchen and ran to his room. Eriol burst out too and went to her room. Both of them slammed their doors simultaneously.  
  
"Eriol has never been angry before," Syaoran said slowly. "Neither has Tomoyo," Sakura frowned.  
  
Tomoyo's POV(In her words)  
  
"So have you decided how to tell her?" I asked him. I didn't notice that he had a confused expression on his face. "Not yet," Eriol replied. He helped arrange the goods that I had bought. When he pulled out a can of cocktailed peaches, he smiled fondly. "What?" I mused. "Mizuki loved peaches," Eriol answered. He was chuckling a little. The smile made his charming face light up. He called her by her first name.  
  
I started to find this Kaho person rather annoying. But I can't be. . . I've only known Eriol for a day or so. There was a pain in my heart whenever I hear her name. Was it. . .?  
  
No. At least, I hope not.  
  
"Describe her," I said finally with great difficulty. Eriol sighed dreamily. He stopped taking the goods out of the paper bag. "She has long gleaming brown hair that gleams even more under the sunshine. . ."  
  
I fingered my dark hair. It looked so dull all of a sudden. I hoped Eriol didn't spot my downcast face. But maybe I did. . . so that he would ask me why. . . but that would be crazy. . . anyway he didn't even look up. Fat hope.  
  
I watch his blue- black hair move slightly while he describe the Kaho girl some more, "Her eyes are the most expressive brown. . .like burning coals even if they're not really amber. . ."  
  
Again I compared myself to her. Amethyst eyes felt like cold hard stones now. Not glinting or ever burning like amber. Burning, how I hate that word now.  
  
"Her touch is so soft and satiny like what it looks like, beige with a tint of rose. . ."  
  
I glared angrily at my pale white skin. I probably looked like a snow princess, ready to melt in the sunshine.  
  
"She's about my height. . ." I felt like a dwarf. "She's always cheerful. . ." And I was such a grump (A/N: We know she's not!)  
  
It was amazing what jealousy could do in such a short time. Wait. . . did I say jealousy? No I mean. . .um. . . another word. Anyway, I've already started to hate Kaho for some unknown reason. (A/N: Riiight. . .)  
  
Without knowing it I was slamming noodles into my soup. It didn't splash about luckily. Eriol snapped out of his dreams of his perfect girl and turned at me, "What's wrong?"  
  
"Nothing," I half-snapped. I banged the bowl onto the counter, "She sounds more or less faultless. What's the problem with just telling her?" Eriol didn't seem to catch the hint. How dense can people in love get? "See, she's just seem so unreachable. Every time you try to get near her, she seems to moves away a million steps, get what I mean?" Eriol said. "Each time I talk to her I imagined she hid snow white wings, like an angel in disguise. . ." 'An angel in disguise' it echoed horribly in my ears, I felt like screaming but my mouth held tight.  
  
Eriol's POV(In his words)  
  
As I described my beloved Kaho, the kitchen faded away. I saw her, in a park, petals floating around her. . . her soft wavy brown hair blowing against the wind. She was smiling, as usual, and it broke into a laugh, the amazing eyes narrowed down. . .  
  
A loud bang made me return to the stove. Tomoyo had pound down her bowl. I turned at her. "She sounds more or less faultless. What's the problem of just telling her?" Tomoyo said. Her voice was a bit snappy but I ignored it.  
  
"See, she's just seem so unreachable. Every time you try to get near her, she seems to move away a million steps, get what I mean?" I said. "Each time I talk to her I imagined she hid snow white wings, like an angel in disguise. . ." Tomoyo cringed beside me. I couldn't ignore that move, "Is something the matter?"  
  
Tomoyo didn't answer. A tear fell on the counter top. I grabbed her by the shoulders, she was forced to look up. Her eyes were struck with tears! "Why're you crying?" my voice was cracking. She held my eyes for a moment before looking away. I saw the beautiful amethyst eyes pooled up. I was truly befuddled at why she was calling on the water works. Yet she still hadn't answer my question. I tried again, as patiently, "Daidouji-san, what's the matter?"  
  
Tomoyo's POV  
  
Tomoyo heard him ask many a times. The calling of her surname slapped her in the face. Daidouji- san. . . he didn't even call her Tomoyo. . . And her eyes were brimming with tears. Weak and pathetic, how could she allow herself to be let down?  
  
"What's the matter with you?" Eriol's voice boomed impatiently. Tomoyo wrenched herself out of his grip and shouted back, "Nothing!" she ran out of the kitchen.  
  
Eriol's POV  
  
Eriol watched her run out. He wondered whether he should go after her. But he didn't. Instead he stormed into his room, ignoring the stares of Sakura and Syaoran.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ A/N: I've made it a bit longer. So this chappie is mainly to promote E+T couples. Ya'll be wondering whether this will be an S+S ficcy or E+T. I'm trying to make it both at the same time or there may be a sequel. . . Anyway, I still need more votes for which play it should be and how should Kaho be. Love ya reviews, Thanx for your support! 'Specially Kan-Chan! Keep em reviews coming! 'Appy New Year!!! 


	5. Chapter 5 Rehearsals

Disclaimer: I will never own CCS *darn* At Your Side 

By Silver MoonStar 

Chapter 5: Rehearsals With Jessica the Brat

The tension between Tomoyo and Eriol was still stormy the next day. Tomoyo still didn't want to tell anyone what her problem was, not even Sakura. Eriol was overly concerned (A/N: Can't he see it???? I'm so mad at myself for making him so dense but that 's how the story goes. . .*sigh*) but kept his mouth shut.

Sakura and Syaoran had, for once in the past two days, didn't make a single flaw on each other. Everyone at breakfast silently even though the stillness was killing each of them. 

At exactly 15 minutes to eight, there was a knock on the apartment door. A girlish giggle erupted from outside. "Who's that?" Sakura asked curiously. Syaoran got up and opened the door. 

A group of girls were standing at the corridor. They were lead by a tall blonde girl. . ."Jessica?" Syaoran stuttered in disgust and horror. "Hey, Li. . ." Jessica said coyly. "Li, it's time to go," Sakura said in the same tone while she butted pass Syaoran. Tomoyo and Eriol followed behind. "What're you waiting for? Get your bag," Sakura said again, ignoring Jessica ,who was furling with anger, and the titters of the gang. 

"Uh. . . right," Syaoran came back to his senses. He slung on his bag and shut the door. The other three had already moved on, Sakura on her blades(as usual:). It left Syaoran to Jessica and her followers. 

Jessica smiled with a look on her face that said There-is-no-one-now-except-me-and-you-Heh heh heh. Syaoran stared in horror at the sight before him. Jessica gave a tiny nod of her head. Her group trooped off silently, glancing at Jessica with suppressed smiles, at Syaoran they winked at him as though saying, 'You can have me if you don't want her.'

"Um. . .it's getting late, I think I'd better go now," Syaoran said hurriedly, his face going a brilliant setting sun red. But Jessica pulled his hanging sleeve. She pouted, supposedly to be cute. But it turned out as though she had an ulcer on her bottom lip and was trying to not get stung.

'Sakura, you are so evil leaving me to deal with the banshee' Syaoran gave a sigh. "What?" he said tolerantly while turning around. Jessica smiled her pink smile again, the ulcer was gone. "Wanna walk to school together?" 

'She behaves like a five year old! Jeez!' Syaoran thought. "Quick then," Syaoran peeked at his watch. It was ten minutes to eight. 

**Jessica's POV (In her Words)**

I saw him blush madly. He was falling for me! And not that Kinomoto wretch! (A/N: Oh how wrong she is! She makes me puke) "Um. . .it's getting late, I think I'd better go now," he said, a little too rushed. He's just nervous, talking to me and all. 

How cute!

 I did a puppy dog pout all too perfectly.

He fell for it immediately. He turned back around and acted the cool air, "What?"

"Wanna walk to school together?" I asked sweetly. Are boys _that_ dense until they couldn't get the hint?

Oh well it makes him more cuter. 

I dreamt for the day he would embrace me in his arms. I'd gaze up into those deep, burning amber eyes with my cerulean ones. Brown _definitely_ goes with blonde. B+B right? Then he would lean his head closer to mine and. . .

Oh Syaoran. . .

"Excuse me?" the husky voice broke into my thoughts. I was jolted out of my day dreams rudely. But I didn't care. . .it doesn't matter if it's Li Syaoran, the hottest boy I've ever seen. Ethan doesn't count anymore. . .(A/N: Tell me why I'm writing this? Ugh!)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**Syaoran's POV(In his Words)**

"So, how was the dig you had with dear Jessie?" Kinomoto asked me. She had that glint in her eyes. A smile played about her lips. I told her to shut up. She sniggered. Tomoyo was still in the silence. So was Eriol, I noticed. Great, that leaves me with. . .Kinomoto, the Tyrant Barbarian who stops at _nothing_ to get crummy Her Answers. Mr. Seanen was not in yet. Jessica was as faraway as possible from my back seat.

I had to admit, I needed somebody who I could relate how horrible Jessica was during the walk to school. Eriol was, unfortunately, out cold in the brains right now.

Jessica was ultimately the worst bitch I've ever met. She practically drooling all over me the whole time. Asking me this and that. It was amazing how she could talk while still having that stupid smile on her face. And her front teeth were buck sized, nothing exceptional. She'd be the rabbit queen of the grade.

Kinomoto was grinning all the way with her straight pearly whites, while I explained to her how nauseating Jessica was. Her pooling emerald green eyes gleamed with surprised delight. . . Wait, why am I describing her in such a way? Re-wind— Kinomoto was grinning all the way with her _yellow_ straight teeth. Her hard green eyes glinted mischievously. . . _that's_ better.

She is so irritating!

**Sakura's POV**

Sakura laughed to herself while Syaoran screwed up his face while giving the description of Jessica. 'Haha! Serves you right' Sakura thought mischievously. 

Then she noticed Tomoyo and Eriol listening stonily, or they seemed to be listening, though. Tomoyo's face was abstracted while Eriol was dreamily gazing off into the distance. 'How long is this going to last?' Sakura wondered tiredly watching the suspense between both of them.

**General POV**

The door swung open roughly. Mr. Seanen walked in huffily. He always seemed to  be in a hurry. "Sorry for being late," Mr. Seanen apologized. He slammed down the stack of books in his hands on the table.

"Good morning Mr. Seanen," everyone murmured. "Good morning. Now continuing our subject yesterday," Mr. Seanen smiled as everyone groaned. 

"You're opting for—?" Sakura whispered to Rika who was sitting on her front. She didn't dare approach Tomoyo incase the girl snapped off her head. "Romeo and Juliet," Rika whispered back, her eyes were in stars. "Way mushy. . ." Sakura giggled. 

"Ms. Kinomoto, would you like to share what you are conversing about?" Mr. Seanen asked. Sakura shot up, blushing heavily. A snort escaped from Syaoran who was pleased that Sakura was in trouble (A/N: Rude ain't he?). Sakura glared at him angrily. Mr. Seanen noticed this too, "And you Mr. Li?" 

Syaoran got up too. He's face was red with both anger and embarrassment. Sakura smiled contentedly. Mr. Seanen frowned,

"There's no fun in having detention, Ms. Kinomoto." 

Sakura and Syaoran gaped unbelievably. "But—" they started to say at the same time. "Another word out of both of you, and detention for the whole week," Mr. Seanen threatened. The brunettes shut up right away. "Sit," Mr. Seanen ordered sternly. 

They sat.

"Have you decided which play yet?" Mr. Seanen continued as though nothing had happened. "Romeo and Juliet!" most of them cried out (A/N: Considering that I've only got one vote, it was more of a climax than of a choice). Sakura looked horrified. But it was none compared to Syaoran's expression of terror. If it was as Jessica had first said. . . he was definitely doomed.

"Majority says," Mr. Seanen said in a no-objections-or-you-are-going-to-get-it sort of way. "Auditions are on this Friday otherwise, tomorrow. I'm putting Tomoyo and Eriol in charge (A/N: I am so cruel muahahaha! Putting the tensed couple together. Let's see those sparks fly!)," Mr. Seanen said again. The chosen ones didn't respond.

"I know which part Jessica Lange would go for," Chelsea muttered loudly. Jessica and her repulsive gang burst into squeals of giggles. Mr. Seanen stared at them severely. They stifled the laughs. But Syaoran was already melting to pulp in his seat.

"What's wrong Li? Lost your tongue?" Sakura said maliciously. 

~*~Auditioning~*~

Jessica walked in with her nose sky-high. She flipped her blonde beauty over her shoulder. Madison was judging the female parts while Eriol, the opposite. They didn't even look at each other even though they were in the same room. 

The auditorium was divided squarely into two. Eriol and Madison sat at each side. 

"You are going for?" Madison scribbled on her board in a bored behavior. She had seen many failures the whole day. It was getting very tiresome. 

"Juliet," Jessica said confidently, unruffled by the jaded tone. "Act out Act 4, Scene III," Tomoyo said robotically. Eriol, who had heard quite a lot of Jessica from Syaoran looked over, amused.

Jessica was, by far the worst of them all. She pranced here and there, over- exaggerating everything. Her high- pitched voice made it all the worst. Tomoyo kept her acting on because she too was tickled.

For a moment it was as though everything was forgiven and forgotten in between Eriol and her. . .

"You may go, now," Tomoyo smiled. "I'll tell who gets the parts when everything is done." Jessica walked out thinking that Juliet was hers.

"Next!" Tomoyo called. She still didn't give a glance at poor Eriol.

The door open. A tall stranger came in. She had wavy gleaming brown hair that reached her waist. Her eyes were a burning amber. A small smile pursed on her lips which contrasted pink against a pale tan. . . Eriol gasped while he stood up uncertainly.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A/N: *gasp* Who is it? A cliffhanger, muahahahahaha! The answer's quite obvious but I'm trying to make a cliffhanger so don't flame me about this. Keep those reviews coming _everyone_! I'm waiting *taps feet* ^_–!


	6. Chapter 6 Being Melodramatic

**Disclaimer:** I do not own CCS *darn*

**At Your Side **by Silver-MoonStar

**Chapter 6:** Being Melodramatic

.:|| Auditorium ||:.

~*~Flashback~*~

Tomoyo was sobbing relentlessly in her room. The door was locked. No one had access from the outside now. She was furiously angry as well as embarrassed with both her and Eriol. How could she have let her emotions take over? And what was the strange connection she had felt with the stranger? She had only known him for only a couple of days. Kaho…she was the problem…Mizuki. She was perfect for him. 

Tomoyo sighed. She felt silly. A mere infatuation had caused her to be driven close to being berserk. But her heart felt stabbed by the Dagger of Hurt, still. No matter whomever she had dated before, nobody felt as close as this blue-haired stranger…she would heal… everyone does with the pass of time… and if the brown haired girl doesn't come into view of her eyes…

~*~End Flashback~*~

"Mizuki…" Eriol whispered softly. Tomoyo got up in her own seat. She stared at the tall figure, partly horrified, partly shocked but most of all, heartbroken. Eriol had called her (Kaho) by her first name. 

Eriol stepped down the stairs of the stage, half- running half restraining his stride. Tomoyo looked like a zombie while she walked much more slowly. Eriol hugged Kaho. She hugged back. The blue boy stepped back, reddening unusually, stammering, "I—I'm sorry." Kaho beamed at him. 

Tomoyo strode pass them, head as high as Jessica's had been. She was maintaining her tears. "Daidouji-san, where are you going?" Eriol called after her. Tomoyo forced herself around. She locked her amethyst eyes with Kaho's friendly amber ones. Kaho smiled at her politely. She moved the cold stones to Eriol's, careful not to flinch while she said in a strangled voice, "I—I'm…you'd two better catch up with each o—other." She left without giving them a chance to say another word. Her head had lowered down while she got close to the entrance. Her eyes were shaded by her dark hair. Unfortunately Eriol and Kaho hadn't seen the tear that dropped to the floor and vaporized in a matter of seconds.

Eriol turned back to his crush. They got talking almost immediately. Kaho looked over her shoulders, suspecting…

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Tomoyo's footsteps echoed in the empty corridors. School was over ages ago, there was hardly anyone here now. The S pair were at home, presumable that they hadn't killed each other on the journey back. Tomoyo wondered whether she should go back too seeing that there were no other candidates lining up. Then she remembered that her things were still in the auditorium. 

She sighed and turned back. She'd just tell the couple that she won't be a minute while she pick her things up and get going, yeah, it seemed like a good plan…

Tomoyo gathered up her hair. Her eyes were still a little red from crying. The large heavy doors were quite heavy for her to push right now. She felt weak at that moment. She went to the side one. It open quietly. Eriol and Kaho were on the stage, their lips were locked…

.:||**Sakura & Syaoran**||:.

 "What did you audition for Li?" Sakura asked good- naturedly. They were eating. Syaoran had offered to cook. He made truffle rice and several side dishes. It smelled good and all that was left was the taste test. "Why do you want to know?" Syaoran replied a little coldly. Sakura shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly, "Just wanted to ask, no problem is there?" 

Syaoran didn't reply. He didn't want Sakura guffawing at him. He had tried out for Romeo's part. Eriol had looked at him in a I-can't-believe-Li Syaoran-the-Serious-Master-is-doing-this kind of way. He didn't know whether he got the role yet especially when Ethan Cohn the class' sweetheart had gone before him. Ethan had the looks as well as some brains…

"Mmm… this is delicious," Sakura commented while she ate. Syaoran looked at her, surprised at her reaction of his cooking. He had expected something nasty from Sakura, deriving from her behavior towards him. Her pink lips were pressed together, savoring the delectable tang. She looked delighted for once. 

Syaoran saw her in a different light for the first time. He realized why she was horrible towards him ever since they met. It was only tit for tat…

Syaoran flushed for a moment. He had fancied himself being a complete controller of his emotions and yet he had acted like a child, fighting with this girl. "What's wrong Li? Why aren't you eating?" Sakura asked him curiously. Syaoran looked at his bowl of rice as though it was more interesting.

Sakura placed a piece of fish atop the mount. "Here maybe that'd tempt you," she said kindly. Syaoran glanced up, turned scarlet. He picked up his chopsticks and started eating obediently. 

Sakura smiled, quite pleased. But she quickly exclaimed, "Don't go thinking I'm going to be nicer to you though." Syaoran had his old fire back, "Of course not, Kinomoto. I'm no softie." He gave her a 'reassuring' smirk. He still hadn't forgotten his revenge even if Sakura had.

Sakura's heart skipped when she saw the upturned mouth. He looked quite good when he smiled… wait, what did she said? No she meant something else… Why was her stomach feeling fluttery as though a swarm of butterflies had invaded it? Li Syaoran was her sworn enemy, she can't have…_feelings_… for him, that would be forbidden.

"Sa—I mean—Kinomoto," Syaoran covered his mistake. That was safe, he had nearly called her by her name in front of her… "Yeah?" Sakura replied coolly. She lifted her eyes from her bowl. Syaoran's brown ones were caught of guard, they held the gaze of the amazing green pools for a long while. Sakura for a fleeting moment didn't even flinch. 

The two sat, staring at one another in silence. While Syaoran took in the auburn's features, Sakura studied his sharp features. They were drawn closer together unknowingly…

Sakura felt Syaoran's breath on her skin, Syaoran smelled her fresh fragrance of cherry blossoms. 

The connection was broken when Syaoran coughed sub- consciously when he discovered their closed distance, between each other, was about size of a flea. Both of them turned a brilliant maroon and tore away. "Well…" they stuttered at the same time, "Um…uh…" They were dazed for an instance. "I—I've got some homework to do," Sakura lied through her teeth. "Me too," Syaoran lied too. They gulped down the rest of their meal down in less than a minute. 

While they were washing the dishes, Sakura and Syaoran brushed each other's hands while they reached for the soap at the same time. They pulled away at the exact second and stammered while blushing furiously, "You—you take it." 

Then they laughed when they saw the funny thing about doing the same thing at the same time. In the midst of laughing, Syaoran pulled Sakura towards him and kissed her on the lips (A/N: @_@). Sakura felt his tongue wrestled with hers and her tensed body relaxed. (A/N: I've never been ki$$ed before but I've read it was something like this… #-_-#!)

When they separated, they were both speechless. Sakura left the kitchen immediately and ran to her room, leaving Syaoran still red…

.:||**Auditorium**||:.

Tomoyo gave a stifled wheeze. She had tried to cover her mouth but the damage had been done, Eriol and Kaho stopped whatever they had been doing and turned towards her direction. Eriol went bright ruby and Kaho looked embarrassed. 

"Daidouji-san, I—I didn't know—you—uh—"Eriol started to say. Tomoyo turned her heels and slammed the door close. Kaho followed her actions with her eyes…

.:||**Tomoyo's POV**||:.

Tomoyo ran straight out of the school, her eyes were filled with tears. The scene flashed in her mind over and over again. They had been fearless doing it in such a place… She'd had never even have a place to protest… Where did she come in?

Tomoyo reached the park. The pine trees swayed slightly in the frosty breeze. The fresh air filled her lungs. Her eyes searched for a bench to seat on. She walked on the path, going further into the trees.

She found a spot after a hundred steps or so. She sat on the crunchy autumn leaves, sobbing pitifully, reviewing her harum-scarum thoughts. Flashes of dark blue hair, azure eyes and an ever ready smile… charming voices, mysteriousness…Then came the long brunette hair, burning amber…pink, tanned skin…kindness…Why…? Cruelty befallen on her…? At the time she had found…?

~*~*~*~*~

Tomoyo's face were tear- stained by the time she reached the apartment. It was seven in the evening. She forgot all about her backpack in the auditorium.

"Daidouji-san…?" Eriol's voice floated into her ears. Tomoyo's heart didn't move an extra beat though, it felt cold, stone- like.

She lifted her head. Kaho was holding his left arm. He didn't push it away. But Tomoyo didn't see the concern in their eyes. She was in no mood to warm up. She didn't reply but stared defiantly back at him. He stepped back, overcame by her coldness, "Your—bag is in your room." 'How dare he entered her room without my permission?' Tomoyo thought angrily. 

She stomped into her room with a choked, "Thank you." 

.:||**Eriol's POV**||:.

Eriol watched the flurry of gleaming dark hair whirl in the air smoothly. Tomoyo was sleek when she was angry, graceful even when she was in a state. But he didn't understand her. One minute she was sweet and the other, she treated him like an alien. She had given Kaho a strange stare as well.

Kaho clung onto him like a magnet. Normally his heart would've soared but today he felt uncomfortable. He politely apologized to her, saying he will meet up with her the next day. Kaho was always thoughtful thankfully. She gave him a peck on his cheek and left without another word.

~*~*~*~

Someone knocked on his door. It was nine. "Come in," Eriol called. He looked expectantly at the door.

It was Syaoran. "What's wrong Li?"

Syaoran would only come if he had a problem…

"Are you okay?" Syaoran saw his troubled face. "I—I'm just tired," Eriol replied stubbornly. Syaoran suspected something more but decided not to hold an interrogation service. He sat on Eriol's study table, "Can you help me with a problem I have?" 

"Fire away," Eriol replied, pulling his thoughts away from his own troubles. "I— have a friend," Syaoran started lamely. 'How lame is that?' Syaoran thought but carried on anyways. "His name is—er— Zack," Syaoran recalled his friend's name back in Hong Kong. Eriol didn't know him thankfully. Eriol nodded at him to continue. 

"Zack hates this girl—um—Rijana—" it was quite true "but recently, he has be having weird thoughts about her so he's asking me for help on what to do and I don't know what to do…" Syaoran hastened up. "So you're asking me what can you tell him to do?" Eriol finished for him, quite amused. "Well—yeah," Syaoran blushed.

"Sounds like this couple sounds like you and Sakura," Eriol started. "We _are not_ like that!" Syaoran retorted hotly. But he remembered the kiss… Eriol looked at him skeptically, "Well, if he really likes her, then he should tell—" Eriol stopped and remembered his own kiss…(A/N: Having problems aren't they? *snigger*) 

"Did something happen between you and Kaho today?" Syaoran blurted out his question. "No…" Eriol said slowly. Someone knocked on the door.

"Come in," both of them said in unison. The door creaked open. 

It was Sakura. Syaoran blushed even more.

"Li-san, you fiancée called," Sakura's voice shook while she trust out the phone. Syaoran froze. 'Fiancée?' he was totally bewildered. He took the telephone uncertainly. Sakura banged the door shut while she left.

"Li! It's me!—"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**A/N**: Well that's the 6th Chapter! Lots of kisses and blushes. So Kawaii! . Press da button and review!!!


	7. Chapter 7 Conversations and disappearanc...

**Disclaimer**: I do not own CCS *darn*

**At Your Side** by Silver-MoonStar

**Chapter 7**: Conversations

.:||Sakura's Room||:.

Sakura was on her bed. Sobbing. Confused. Feeling Betrayed. Didn't he kiss her? She had heard of boys like this but he never seemed like one. He was serious, responsible and was the most unlikely of all the male gender, so it seems. Looks can be so deceiving. 

At times like this, she would go up to her roof, her thinking place, her sole hope of rearranging her feelings and thoughts. And she did.

~*~

The night air was cold. Sakura clutched her jacket closer to her shivering body. But she didn't get up to go back into the warm apartment. She stayed on the red tiles, observing the magnificent view of the whole city that laid in the far west. London… she had been there many a times but now…it seemed that she longed for it…

The creak of the attic door shook her roughly out of her dreams. Being annoyed, she turned to glare at the interrupter but she gasped…

.:||Tomoyo's Room||:.

Tomoyo was punching her bolster furiously. She had let her guard down again. Why wasn't she like the old Tomoyo? Getting over boys like a snap whenever she dumped them. Maybe it because she wasn't used to being rejected. It had always been her who had dumped others and not vice versa.

Eriol was just another boy. He wasn't anyone special…she had to think between those lines. In heart, she knew the dagger was embedding it painfully until she could just give up restraining and force it all out. But she wasn't one to quit, now, she was Tomoyo Daidouji, the mistress of her emotions and heart. 

Tomoyo had rarely cried but it seemed that these past few days, crying was all that she could do to console herself. And she did until her pillow was damp. She fell asleep amidst it, drowning in her own emotions and feelings. She had lost to much…her father, her mother…and the king of her heart…

.:||Syaoran||:.

"Syao-kun! Wo de Meiling!" the girl on the other side said(A/N: I learned a little bit of Mandarin but if this is wrong sorry!). "Meiling??" Syaoran widened his eyes. His fiancée? No…not now… Eriol looked a him, frowning and musing. Syaoran gave him a apologizing glance and ran out of the shadowy room into his own. 

In the privacy of his own room, Syaoran fumed as much as he could. "What the heck do you think you're doing Meiling?" "Remember Pei Fen? The girl you liked when you were seven? Aunty has betrothed her to you!!" Meiling said simply and happily as though she didn't hear the hint of anger and frustration in Syaoran's voice. Syaoran was silent. He couldn't believe his mother had done such a thing without his consent. Then his thoughts switched to Sakura, goodness-knows-how she felt. He remembered the kiss…it was so dreamy, fairytale like…she must had felt betrayed and possibly depressed when she heard that he had fiancée. And yet he knew it wasn't his fault, he didn't know he was promised marriage to some unknown girl called Pei Fen!

Syaoran felt so crazed with fury that he rudely hung up while Meiling was crying her lungs out for his response, "Syao—" 

Syaoran knew where Sakura was, on the roof. The trapdoor was once opened, quite easily from his previous trips to the top. While he opened the roof's entrance, he heard scuffling of hurried footsteps. Then he saw Sakura with the Star Key.

.:||The Roof||:.

(A/N:I don't know the Japanese chant WAAA!! T_T Flame on this if you want to. But I've only watched the dubbed version… & I changed sum of it)

"O Key of My Star 

With thine Powers Burning O So Bright

Reveal My Staff

And Shine thy Light!"

As the Clow Mistress aged, so did the staff. The bright, happy pink had turned a passionate red and the yellow star, into a six- pointed asterix, gleaming different colors of the rainbow, mainly constant yellow and pink.

"Sakura!" Syaoran called. She half glanced at him while she called out, "FLY!" The snowy white wings formed on her back. She looked like an angry, fuming, beautiful angel. The image took Syaoran's breath away. But the emerald pools had turned icy with cold fire. Without a single sound, she took off into the night. Syaoran, stunned at the sight, didn't even realize it until she was but a speck in the distance. 

"Sakura!!!" Syaoran cried out in frustration. 'Damn! Why can't she stay in one place??' he thought. 'All I needed was to tell the truth, should I go after her?' (A/N: Yes Syaoran Go after HER!!!) But he didn't have any cards that would allow him to catch up with her, especially during airborne. 

He went down the stairs, dragging his feet.

Who was Pei Fen? He couldn't remember anyone going with that name. Unless it was that annoying girl who had always clung on to him ever since he was young… How could Meiling think he had ever _liked_ her? The buck- teethed raven…?

.:||Sakura (Her Words)||:.

The night air pricked my skin. I wondered whether it was tinged blue to numbness. I was already cold enough to release my grip. And even though I had been flying for one half hour, I still refused to land.

My mind switched back to the jerk. The gaki, the brat, Chinese Brat. He _dared_ to come up to _my_ roof? The scared place I had kept secret that even my best friend hadn't know. The nerve of him and that stupid friend of him. Our troubles had started because of them. Who would have thought that two _mere_ boys caused emotions to run high? 

I wondered how Tomoyo was now. I had heard sobbing from her room. But she still locked the door. Cool Tomoyo crying? _That_ was weird. 

The bitter wintry air was really getting into me. I made a u- turn back. But it was only a building away before I was engulfed in choking frosty air. My hand was torn apart from the handle. The last thing I saw was the red beam turning back into a key before disappearing into the night… then darkness took over…

.:||Eriol||:.

It seemed as though something pulled on his heartstrings. He felt as though his insides was a burning infernos at one second and sub-zero draftiness the next. 'Something happened to Sakura!' Eriol thought at once. At that moment, Li dashed into his room, breathing hard, "Sakura!" In his hands was the Star Key……reduced to the former bird head! "She's not here!" Syaoran said. His eyes were darkened drastically.

Eriol gaped at it. What would've caused the Key to reform? It could mean that the Mistress was lost, dead or alive, it was currently unknown.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A/N: Hallo~ I've taken quite a long break rite? But I'm back, hopefully! Kay, juz kidding. I knoe this chappie is sort of short but I'm still in my holiday mood :P So what's happening to Sakura? What happened to Madison? I'm thinking of a sequel story. But seeing it only having a mere seven chappies, it seems I should continue on the same file… What do you guys think? Oh yea, a sequel would mean, sumthing _did_ happen to Saku and Tomoyo would probably change her behavior… the girls are turning to devils and Saku is having _two_ active rivals, sumthing I have not read about… who is Pei Fen, you think?


	8. Chapter 8 All Lost

**At Your Side** by Silver-MoonStar

Disclaimer: I don't own CCS *darn*

A/N: Before I begin ranting, thanks two all those who reviewed before; **Kan-Chan**,** Anime-girl**,** Hana no Tenshi**,** Crystal**,** Kitty-Kat** and the anonymous reviews by **sum1**, **S&S Forever**, **sango of the shadow clan** and um… **No Name**. Love you guys! Make me feel that I must continue and I am!

Chapter 8: All lost… or not?

.:||**Sakura (Her Words)**||:.

My head felt a little woozy. I looked around. I was in an alley, dark, dominating, intimidating and mysterious. Okay, Sakura what the heck are you doing in this alley? I shook my head and got up hesitatingly? 

I couldn't remember. 

Where was I from? Who are my friends? The questions flooded my head but I couldn't answer anyone of them! All I remember was that I'm Sakura. But Sakura what? I'm Sakura, Sakura… it echoed thoroughly in my head but nothing else came in. I'm Sakura Nothing, Sakura What? Sakura… Is that even my name? I'm not even sure!

My first few steps were staggering. My balance was disturbed, the liquid in my head whooshed like a see- saw inside my skull. My clothes were grubby and were torn to near rags. I looked once more around the alley. Did I live here? The bright lights at the far end were enticing but was I suppose to go out of here? It was frustrating but none my answers were replied. The silence helped in building up my anger. I leaned against the paint peeling walls, beating it while my teeth gritted against each other. 

A loud crushing sound made me look up. A hole was in the wall. My fist was dusty. I wiped my tears with my arms. Did I do that? Whispers emitted from the bright lights. Shadows blocked the radiance. People were on- looking. What am I if I can punch a hole into the wall? Surely no human could do that. Am I a human at all? I strive for answers and got _nothing_! More whispers surrounded me , even from the darkness. I ran into the gloom, stumbling and crying. What's wrong with me? Me… Sakura? I jumped and took flight. Wings were beating behind on my back. Where did they come from? Velocity increased and I flew above the buildings. A mass of blinding light swarmed my eyes. 

It was cold. Horribly cold. Wind was touching the exposed skin of my body that were not covered with my shirt. My white wings beat slowly, the wide wingspan allowed me to float. Am I an angel? But angels are suppose to be beautiful, clean. Not dirty and smelly. Whispery bits of my hair fluttered into my view. It was auburn, dirty auburn. Dark and sticky. This is hateful! Tears pricked my eyes. I landed on a roof. Who am I? Who am I _truly_?

.:||**The Apartment**||:.

"Where is she?" Syaoran was practically wild with rage. "I…I don't know," Eriol was stuttering. He was lost for once. Clow Reed had never anticipated this. The Bird Key was lying innocently in his hands. "You're know about these things! You should know!" Syaoran pinned him to the wall. "Cool it! What's wrong with you?" Eriol said. Syaoran let him go. He _was_ right. What's wrong with him? Sakura he had only known Sakura for a mere week… could it be…? No, it can't be… she was like the irritating little sister he had never had…probably.

"You have _got_ to find her…What'll Tomoyo say?" Syaoran quickly covered up his uneasiness. He let Eriol go. The blue- haired boy eased up his collar. "Yes, what _will_ I say?" Tomoyo's voice butted in. 

"Tomoyo!" Eriol stammered. "It's Daidouji for strangers," she growled. Eriol's eyes frowned. He was hurt. "Wha— I—" Eriol felt slapped in the face. Syaoran eyed the two of them, "I'll go check the Cards." He went off.

"What happened to Sakura?" Tomoyo grew concerned. 'She's more anxious of her friend than herself' Eriol thought admiringly. "She's... gone," Eriol replied nervously. "The Cards…?" Tomoyo started. "—are gone!" Syaoran finished. He dangled the empty cover in his hands. Tomoyo grabbed it. Her eyes widened in horror. "What could've caused this?" she shrieked. "I…I don't know," Eriol answered nervously. "So much for the reincarnation of Clow," Syaoran muttered. Eriol shot him a deathly glare. His mind was a jumble. "I need time," Eriol said finally. "Syaoran, call Mizuki will you?" 

"This is no time to have a date mister!" Tomoyo said exasperated while Syaoran ran out of the room. "She has magic…" Eriol said, confused. Tomoyo backed off. 'She's even more perfect than ever, looks, brains, magic and probably money… wait Sakura needs me, this is no time to compete!' Tomoyo thought. She disappeared into her room.

.:||**The Next Morning**||:.

"Have you found out yet?" Syaoran asked the moment Eriol appeared outside his room. "No, but I made everyone else in school forget that there was even a Sakura," Eriol replied. Syaoran stared at him. "I didn't _erase_ her existence, I just place a temporary memory spell over everyone else who knew her. It wears off after five years," Eriol said. "Can you _remove_ it whenever possible?" Syaoran asked quietly. "When she's found literally," Mizuki appeared beside Eriol. "Other than that, we have to wait," Eriol said. "Can't you track her down or something?" Syaoran asked. "Without the cards nor her wand, it's very difficult since we don't know how many people have magic. Her aura would be dim," Eriol said slowly. "But it can be done?" Tomoyo asked walking into the dining area. "Yes," Kaho replied. Eriol stared at his plate of toast. "How?" Tomoyo pumped them on. 

"Sacrifices have to be made," Eriol replied quietly. "What sacrifices?" Tomoyo questioned. "Anything, emotions, feelings, senses," Kaho replied. "Sacrifices of whom?" Syaoran frowned. "Of either sides," Eriol said, "If the spell is performed, Sakura may lose one of her senses, possibly even her entire memory. And one of us may lose our life. Even then, it may not succeed. But it does guarantee that she can be anyone close to us."

Everyone was silent, thinking deeply. "But why has the cards gone?" Tomoyo appeared to be close to tears. "Some other magic is interfering with Sakura's mind," Kaho said. "English please." 

"She means that Sakura is emotionally disturbed and an unknown power is approaching. The Cards feel it even though she doesn't. They don't feel safe with its presence," Eriol replied. "Emotionally disturbed?" Tomoyo asked curiously. Syaoran went red, it was his fault. Eriol glanced at him side- ways. The tension was building up.

.:||**Syaoran (His Words)**||:.

Sakura was gone… the words kept on echoing in my head. Tomoyo hadn't a clue about _us_. Maybe it _true_ I do…lo… No! That voice kept on insisting. I remembered the previous night, when I was…Her lips were so sweet and tender. Her body had tensed up. My mind was racing, wondering what I was really doing. I just remembered us laughing… then I pulled her towards myself…she was so light… then she pulled away, breathless… I was stunned…she disappeared leaving me lost…

"Li?" Tomoyo was waving her hand to and fro my eyes. "What?" I shook out. "Someone's here to meet you," she said. Kaho and Eriol were gone from the table. It was Saturday. No school. I looked up and saw _her_. A wave of something passed over me. My thoughts were emptied. Meilin was standing beside _her_, "Xiao Lang, meet Pei Fen."

Pei Fen had probably changed over the years. I can't remember anything about her except her annoyance. Her hair was darker than black. It was distinct with her snowy white skin. Her eyes were bluer than the sky itself. She smiled a demure smile. Very lady-like. She had curves that's for sure. It showed through her rather slim clothes. I wondered why I had even thought about Sakura.

"Syaoran?" Tomoyo waved her hand over my glazed eyes again. "Hi, I'm Li Xiao Lang," I offered my hand to Pei Fen. She giggled and gave hers out. The moment I came in contact with her skin, an electrical jolt passed through me.

.:||**Tomoyo (Her Words)**||:.

I saw Syaoran in a stupor. I wondered whether Eriol was doing it to him. He didn't even say anything while Eriol explained their relationship (Sakura and Syaoran). It was just that blue- haired freak's theory so I couldn't believe it 100%. (A/N: I've made her change like I said =). It appeared that Syaoran had fallen for Sakura. I wished I knew Sakura's point of view but I was busy with myself the past days. I cursed myself mentally. It was too late now…

Kaho and him disappeared into his room going to do goodness knows what inside (A/N: Reality, it's not what some dirty-minders would think of!). Li still appeared dreaming. The doorbell rang. I went to get it, leaving lover- boy alone to his thoughts.

There were a couple of strangers in the doorway. One of them had a friendly smile. Her hair was tied to the back in a hair knot. Her eyes were close to red, but they looked almost like Li's. The other was another Chinese. She was prettier than the first one. Her eyes were blue though. They had a funny look to it anyway. Sort of sly and cunning. Her clothes were skin tight, loose only to the last half centimeter away from the skin. I looked skeptically at them. They were quite translucent too.

"Yes?" I asked politely. "Hi! I'm Li Meilin, Xiao Lang's cousin," the friendly one replied. "He didn't say anything…" I started. "I'm his fiancée, Pei Fen," the other girl interrupted rudely. She had the tone that sounded as though I should understand. Fiancée? I let them in anyway.

~*~

Li was practically drooling over Pei Fen. It made me ashamed to look at him. What happened to his serious self? And what about Sakura? Pei Fen however still had that glint of deceit in her eyes. She giggled all over Syaoran's lame jokes and antics. It made me want to scream!!! 

Meilin was there luckily. She was okay. A little crazier than Sakura, something like me except that she approved of Pei Fen which was the opposite of me.

.:||**Sakura (Her Words)**||:.

I fell asleep on the roof. At first morning light, I woke up. Somehow I remembered that I don't usually wake up this early (A/N: She's striving for her lie- ins :) My wings had gone.

The sunrise reminded me of fire. It was familiar, fire. I recalled knowing an animal of fire… My pants caught fire. I slapped on it frantically. A jet of water gushed out of my left palm, extinguishing the fire immediately. I froze. What am I really?? A mutant? What a way to start the morning. I found out my right hand could start a fire and the left shoot out water! Discoveries of the century! _Great_!

My stomach growled hungrily. A distant memory remembered thick pancakes stacked atop one another. Voila! In front of me a stack of pancakes stood boldly in mid- air in front of me. A fork appeared. I held it hesitatingly. The pancakes dripped with maple syrup. A plate appeared underneath the stack. I sat at the edge of the roof. The platter followed closely.

The fork sank into the steamed food. It was still hot. The cold atmosphere made my meal seem even better. The food was very much solid thank you. I made another discovery! I could wish up things! That was more beneficial. My chow- down filled me up greatly. I washed it down with a swig of freshly squeezed orange juice.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A/N: I didn't leave you in a cliffhanger. But I'd make it clear that Sakura has amnesia and whoa! What's with her powers? The answer's quite clear I think. But I won't give you guys the answer if you can't figure it out *laughs cruelly* And Pei Fen? You can still determine her characteristics. Oh yeah, don't fret, Jessica's still alive and Romeo and Juliet is going to be played soon! Should I make Sakura's memories come back or make it stay as it is now? What about the Tomoyo, Eriol and Kaho love triangle? Everything is there still before I advance up the story. Stay tune you guys, answer my questions pls! And keep those reviews posted!!! 


	9. Chapter 9 Meeting With A Stranger

**At Your Side **by Silver-MoonStar

Disclaimer: I no own CCS *WAAAA!* 

A/N: Some of you were mad with me the last time, I dun't know but this chappie could make you mad again…=) Sry! 

Chapter 9: Meeting with a Stranger

.:||**Sakura**||:.

It appeared that the powers remained for only a certain length of time. Sakura was quite glad about _that_ fact as she was mad at the reality that she had problems on wondering how she should get down from the rooftop. Another memory trigger was pulled while she looked towards the mass of buildings in the West. _The roof…_she thought. Something about roofs made her remember a boy… a brown- haired boy and…_cherry blossoms_? Cherry blossoms…a sweet scented flower…there was something special about it…a ring of mist in her past, one she was trying to avoid… but she couldn't remember it.

Sakura decided to call herself Apple for the time being. If she really had any friends, they would recognize her right away. She looked over the ledge, the height made her slightly dizzy. She took a step back and studied the rooftop.

There were weird containers, covered with wire netting…and a certain sound was growing ever louder…a bird cry… She ran all over the area, her senses leading her. Without realizing it, she was warping from one spot to another in an incredible speed. The bird screech grew steadily louder, yet Sakura still couldn't find the source. The resonance grew desperate, as though the creature was hurt. She stopped to concentrate… but due to the warps, she tripped over her own long legs and landed on the ground flat, banging her shin. (A/N: Doing think the fall would make her memory come back?) A flash of her lost reminiscence came back…

.:||**a.k.a Flashback**||:.

"Oh wow! Daddy, it's a white falcon(A/N: I dun't knoe if there is such a thing though…)! It's so beautiful," a young Sakura said in an awed voice. On her shoulder perched the graceful bird of prey. It was nibbling gently on the tiny ponytail the girl had carelessly tied that morning. Aiden (A/N: I like the name better than Fujitaka. Sry! ^_^!) looked at her above the pair of spectacles resting on the bridge of his nose. His clear brown eyes shone behind the glass lenses, he was a spitting image of a short-, brown-haired Clow Reed. 

"It's as free as when the wind blows, let it go Sakura-Chan," Aiden said gently. The mountainous terrain was peaceful and panoramic. Even though she was a mere five years, Sakura knew how dangerous it could be. It seemed that Skye, the name of the bird, wasn't fit for it. So she protested, "But Daddy, Skye won't ever survive out there." "It was made to survive," Aiden said again. Sakura reluctantly stood at the ridge. Skye took off, disappearing at the distance, "As free as the Wind that's how _I_ want to be… one day," Sakura whispered.

~*~

"Sakura-Chan! Isn't that boy cute?" a dark- haired girl squealed into her ears. She pointed to the new boy. Sakura looked up and shrugged her shoulders. "__Chan, he is not…"

.:||**End**||:.

Sakura cursed while she rolled over to her back. Her mind had refused to reveal the girl's name. A sharp pain shot through her head while her eyes slowly unfastened themselves. And a shadow impended over her. "Ow…" Sakura rubbed the back of her head. The shadowy figure became clearer. A boy…was standing over her. "Who're you?" he immediately said, in a slight English accent. "Geez, do I even get a 'Can I help you?" Sakura helped herself up. 

There was a girl. Both of them around her age, more or less. The boy ogled at her, while she stretched herself nonchalantly. She noticed their staring eyes, "What?"

.:||**Eriol (His Words)**||:.

Daidouji-San had bitten of my head the night before… *It's Daidouji to strangers*… does she take me as nothing more than a stranger? Not even a friend? Girls have never confused me as much as she had. And why am I feeling so neutral towards Kaho? I mean, Mizuki-Chan.

Kaho…Mizuki-Chan drew the Magic Ring manually while I looked through spell books. Words and symbols just flashed across my view. I wasn't really contemplating their usefulness, in whole I wasn't really researching any of the spells but using it as an excuse to settle down my thoughts. Daidouji-San, Daidouji-San, why was she everywhere to me? Inside my mind, inside the apartment, I seemed to strive to have a chance to talk to her nowadays, after that Blow Off, needed to know her opinion on nearly everything. But she was refusing my companionship. Literally ignoring me.

"Eriol…Eriol," Kaho…Mizuki-Chan was talking to me. "Yes?" I replied politely. By the look on her face, I knew she had been demanding my attention more than the one that shook me out of my reverie. She made no hint of it in her smooth voice though, "It's done, have you found the spell yet?" I blushed mentally but replied as cool as I could, "No, it could be in one of my scrolls." She paused and made eye contact, trying to read my expression. But I disguised it and quickly turned the conversation to something else, "I'm feeling thirsty, I think I'm going to get a drink." Again she stared at me as though I was a lost child in the middle of adults. "Really Eriol, what…" she began.

I shot out of the room as fast as I could go before uncomfortable questions popped out. The moment I stepped out, an aura of power swept over me. It was evil, evil magic. Voices emerged from the living room, Syaoran's and an unfamiliar girl's voice, two actually. Then there was the soft sweet pitch of Daidouji-San's. I headed for that area. The voices grew louder and one of the girls burst into absurd laughter, high and girlishly topped with a giggle. The hair on my arms stood up, I swear. 

It seemed that we had visitors. Two black haired Chinese girls, one red- eyed, the other blue. Tomoyo… Daidouji-San was glaring at the two, Syaoran and the blue-eyed lass, who were apparently over each other. The aura of evil was hovering strongly around the girl. She was the One. "He…Hello," I greeted them. They looked up, stopping mid-way in their fun. The Blue-Eyed shot me a piercing gaze. Syaoran turned pink in the face. "Oh hi, Hiragizawa-San, this is Li Meilin and—um—Pei Fen," Tomoyo…Daidouji-San said. Damn! What is it with me having confuse with her calling name??? Meilin was the one with a hair knot and Pei Fen was Blue-Eyed. Pei Fen stood up and offered her hand. I could see the tint of blackness consume the limb. It was revolting. I didn't accept the handshake, who would to evil?

.:||**Pei Fen (Her Words)**||:.

The sorcerer didn't accept my handshake. I tried to look offended but my disappointment showed more I guess. But it doesn't matter, I hoped. My Little Wolf had fallen for me totally. The power was really working. If only this sorcerer would accept my hand gesture too…(A/N: Oops ^.^, spoiler. Anyway so now you guys know that 'electrical thingy' was magic)

.:||**Tomoyo (Her Words)**||:.

I saw Eriol taking a step back. I knew he would sense it too. I don't have magic but there was something about Pei Fen that made me suspicious. I just wonder why Syaoran couldn't resist her charms. Pei Fen had her looks and body to flaunt to help her scheming. Meilin looked at them both with pride as though she was a matchmaker who found the most fitting pair in the world. Poor her, she was so naïve under her own matchmaking business.

My attention turned back to Eriol. I wonder where puppy dog Kaho was. Probably in his room…on the bed…

I tried to shut out the thoughts. Dirty, polluting my mind… I turned to go into my room, mumbling that I had something to show the rest…

.:||**Sakura (Her Words)**||:.

I looked down and saw my exposed tummy. I turned redder than the setting sun. Even as I contracted, it showed some part of it. I felt uncomfortable. "I…I'm Apple," I remembered my alias. "Ya've got no clothes?" the girl approached me. She was a blo…blo…what's that word? Blonde…I think. Her eyes were navy blue, clear and wild. She looked like a yellow rose. The boy had just as untamed looks, wavy dark brown hair, close to black, and wicked heliotrope eyes, glinting green from certain angles. They were dressed in coats, patched up and worn out boots.

The girl stared at me intently, waiting for my answer. "Oh, m…my…I mean…I'm an orphan," I stammered. The two looked relaxed. "I'm Jynx and she's Ryce," the boy spoke up. "We're orphans too." Am I an orphan like I said anyway? If they found out I couldn't remember my past, they'd take advantage of me. And how could I explain my unruly powers? I stayed silent until Ryce finally said, "Have ya go' any clothes anyways? Ya look tied." My pants were raggedy and my shirt was stained and ripped. They probably thought I was…

 A picture of a movie I watched a long time ago crept into my mind. The lead girl was wearing a long green coat and a purple cap (A/N: What was that cap that Anastasia wore? Besides you guys are viewing it in your mind now). The Wishing power was with me. The identical clothes fitted over my old ones. A cap rested on my red head. Ryce and Jynx gawked at me. "Ya've got powers too?" Jynx said slowly. He twirled his finger in the air and a cup of tea appeared. He drank it. Ryce sulked however. She pointed a finger upwards and fire shot out of the tip. "That's why we were orphaned," Ryce said huffily. I saw her sadness but Jynx was practically jumping like a jack rabbit. 

"We're a triad! Streets of London beware!" he was yelling at the top of his voice. He seemed so happy, I didn't had the heart to tell him the truth. Ryce looked at me wearily, she reminded of a girl… who was always taking care of another boy whom I knew too…but I couldn't remember anymore. I hated these lost reminiscence. My mind turned back to the chirping of the bird. It was very low now and I could hardly hear it over Jynx's din. "Shut up! I hear something," I told him at last. Where did that came from? I knew I wasn't as hot-tempered before…was I? 

Anyhow, the bird's cries returned to my ears. It was low and mournful…I tread slowly towards it's direction…one of the large containers. The sound of flapping wings lit my eyes up. I opened the entrance door. Ryce shook my shoulder, whispering what I was up to. I hushed her up with the 'shush'-ing gesture. The door opened silently, I gasped at the bird inside. Has a portal through my past has been opened?

.:||**Syaoran**||:.

As the morning progressed further, I couldn't even remember the girl that was in my mind earlier that morning. Pei Fen was just so overwhelming. She laughed at all my jokes even though they were damn lame. My mind couldn't tear away from her…okay so actually my _eyes_ were the one that were stubborn. Her clear blue eyes shone with earnest. (A/N: Yeah…_riiight_…) 

A glint of auburn hair laid in my memories…why was it so familiar? While I kept on drooling of Pei Fen, I saw her features melt in someone I knew and I yet _don't_. Her lavish black long hair shortened and lightened to red. The amazing blue darkened and a splash of yellow turned it green…a red-head, green-eyed girl…how magical was that? Just _who_ was she??

Pei Fen was talking again. She wanted to go to London. _Tourists_.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**A/N**: So Sakura is going to join some ragamuffins! I wonder how she will cope? But then, I'm the writer =P Syao and Sakura will meet in London!!! Will they recognize each other??? Any ideas how she can turn from a 'sweet' lass to some fiery gypsy-like girl? Mail me! Or write it in your reviews. I keep on bringing in new characters aren't I? Sometimes I even forget about dear Jessica… but don't worry, I won't ;) Lurve u guys! Thanx for the support **Kan-Chan**, **Hana No Tenshi**, **Crystal and all the rest!!!**


	10. Chapter 10 Strangers

**At Your Side **by Sagitta-RyuuHoshi

**Disclaimer**: CCS, sadly enough for me, does not belong to me…*sob*

A/N: Hi! I've changed my name!! You can check what it means. I've been late at updating the previous chapter…sorry… ^_-'! Don't be mad… Anyways… here's the new chapter of At Your Side! Enjoy! 

**Chapter  10**: Strangers

.:||**Tomoyo (Her Words)**||:.

I heard the front door creak open and close. The others must have gone out for silence befallen the apartment. I heaved a loud sigh of relief.

I thought over the past week. It seemed so long at yet it was just a few short days to be exact. I remembered the day we met the boys. Sakura and I were walking down the school corridor…now she's gone, missing. To make things worst, Syaoran, who I _believe_ is fated to be with Sakura, is going with a _real_ bimbo besides that idiotic Jessica.

_School_. How can anyone forget about Sakura? The most popular… And _Romeo and Juliet_? I was going to choose my best friend as Juliet  and Jessica as that old maid…

Then there was the _boys_ again. Ever since they arrived, things had been going wrong…so wrong… I felt my tears rolling down. Easy tears. It was pathetic, yes I know but I let it flow relentlessly…_water_ is something that _must flow_ and emotions are things that go wild…_wild_

.:||**Eriol (His Words)**||:.

I was back in my room, searching in vain for a stupid spell that I probably passed while I was thinking of Daidouji-san…_again_… Kaho…Mizuki-chan, oh for goodness sakes, let's call her Kaho! 

I don't know _what _is going on with me?! I loved Kaho but yet is it the right kind of Love? Is it just a brother sister kind of understanding? I'm not even sure anymore…yet a few days ago, I was so sure. So very sure.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Kaho tapped me on the shoulder. I didn't notice that I was roughly flipping the pages of my spell-books until they could very well be tore off. I finally gave up. I _had_ to tell someone. As a sorcerer, I was trained to keep my feelings well below the lid like Syaoran. But this is really too much.

I sat on my bed. Kaho beside me. When I opened my mouth to talk, I found out that I didn't really know where to start. I've never done this before. Never. It was shameful but Kaho was there, she was always understanding. "Think carefully and then you start. There's no point of rushing things up when your mind is already flustered," she said gently. She always knew the right kind of things to say.

I thought long and hard. Then I started, Kaho ever listening.

.:|| **London (Syaoran, Meilin and _Pei Fen_)**||:.

The crowded cobbled street was full of sounds. People were shopping, a mixture of the locals and tourists. English children were grinning from ear to ear at one side. Their caps and faces as grubby as each other. While Meilin and Syaoran looked interested at the goods the variety of people were carrying, Pei Fen looked disgustedly at some of the shop walls that had paint peeling of sometimes. A blend of magical auras was in the air. It was impossible to track down a single magician amidst. They worked their way around slowly until they reached Trafalgar Square where many pigeons were flying around. (A/N: Okay I admit, I haven't been in London that much. I've just been to Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, Bond Street and Oxford Street. So sorry if there is any miss conceptions) Meilin was frolicking around excitedly making the pigeons fly from their resting positions. Syaoran went around to ask people for bread or bird feed if they had. Pei Fen sat on a bench, grossed out by the million of pigeon droppings. 

She looked happy when Syaoran came back with a bag of feed. Meilin ran towards him happily, "Good you've got the bread and stuff. I've always wanted to do this ever since I heard of London!" She grabbed a hand full of bread crumbs and ran to the middle of the area. The birds flocked to her immediately when she stretched revealed her full palm. Teasing her, Syaoran spread some more from the paper bag to her arms. More birds landed on her outstretched limbs. She laughed joyfully. (A/N: Meilin is good in this story except for when she brought along Pei Fen which was not her fault anyway)

Pei Fen was feeling rejected. There was Syaoran throwing bread crumbs all over his cousin who was now probably stinking of bird poop and here she was looking all forlorn and in need of attention. She decided to join them, after all they were here to have fun although all she wanted to do was go shopping at Westbourne Grove. Syaoran gave her a handful of bird feed, really stinkin'. He explained to her carefully (A/N: She's pretending she doesn't know purposely *puh-lease *) what she had to do. When she spread out her hand, however, no birds came. (A/N: HAHA!) 

"Syaoran!" she pouted. But the brunette's attention was captured by someone else… a certain auburn girl with green eyes running by…

.:||**Eriol's POV (In his Words)**||:.

Kaho stared at me closely. I could see the temples behind her eyes working out everything I had told her. I finally confessed what had been bothering me. Kaho had listened like a big sister. I really felt safe around her. 

"Eriol…before I start solving your problem, there's something I should've told you…" Kaho looked uncomfortable all of a sudden. "What?" I asked impatiently. "I—I'm sorry but I on—only see you as a little –- brother…" she stammered, going red. I froze.

.:||**Syaoran (His Words)**||:. 

Her auburn hair was flying in the wind and a white bird flew above her. As if realizing that she was watched, she half-turned at me and I saw the familiar green eyes that had momentarily lay undetected in my mind. A grin flashed across her face just for a second before she turned to look to her back. I followed where her eyes were pointed at. Two English teenagers came running after her. They were laughing along with her. The bird cawed as if agreeing to their glee. By looking at their clothes, they were nothing but a bunch of ragamuffins. But what am I to the redhead street rat if she seemed so recognizable?

A band of policemen came up, yelling and waving their batons. This attracted the crowd's attention and mine. The running youths were actually rebels! I broke into a chase, totally ignoring Pei Fen who was demanding my attention as usual. Being young, I ran naturally ran much faster than the old blokes. 

I caught up with the vandals quite easily, well I only passed the lagging two. The redhead was a damn good runner, it was apparent. She was sleek too, dodging the passers-by blocking her way. I heard her laughing hysterically while the bird chirped continually. She leapt into the air and seemed to disappear. I looked around, getting lost. Finally I looked up, thinking of the impossible…and there she was, with tiny wings on her feet. _Clow Cards_! Those were the first words that came to my mind. I was trained for them throughout my whole life! How can I not feel the power? Only this had a tinge of pink and innocence in it…how did the Cards come under her power?? Preposterous! 

I turned around and the other two were gone too. Great, just great. Now its back to reality, with Meilin…and Pei Fen .

.:||**Tomoyo**||:. 

The silence was unbearable. I had to do something. I remembered Sakura's little pink rubber. It was the thing that started our friendship… 

.:||**a.k.a Flashback**||:.

It was the first day of school. Tomoyo sat nervously in her seat. She knew everyone else was just as new as she was but what if they decided that poor little rich girl was stuck- up. She wasn't by the ways. In fact she was quite the opposite. But money shone in her china face and her possessions.

All the other kids sat down in their seats they picked themselves. The teacher entered and started the roll call. Everything was running smoothly. Tomoyo had replied with her clear, sweet-toned voice. Then it came to writing…

"Oops…" Tomoyo muttered as the tip of her pencil broke. There was a smudge on that spot. She reached into her lavender pencil case to get a new pencil and her eraser. The long strip of wood and lead was there but the tiny piece of rubber seemed to disappear. With her dainty white hands, Tomoyo search tensely for her eraser. 

Nothing. 

Suddenly a kawaii pink rabbit rubber appeared on the corner of her table. She looked up. There was an auburn girl with green eyes beside her. She winked side ways and continued with her own work. Tomoyo felt warmth seep through her empty heart. No one had ever done that to her…

.:|| **End **||:.

That was how it was. A simple act of kindness had started it all. Until now, I never thought of a day where I would regret taking her for granted… I got out of the room. Only that would stop the tears from flowing…

Outside, it was still. Nobody was there. Li had gone out… with Meilin and the female dog. Hiiragizawa was probably with Kaho in his room doing goodness knows what. I headed for the kitchen, desperately drained out of anything to do. 

That was when I heard something move behind me…

.:||** Eriol (His Words)** ||:.

Another invisible slap stung on my face. Kaho had just told me she didn't love me more than a brother… WHAT??? 

I looked over things again. Everything was falling out. Everything. Sakura disappeared, Syaoran was smitten by the evil sorceress (A/N: Yes he knows Pei Fen was a sorceress and you do too) and Tomoyo hates me! Could anything else go wrong? This is all so _stupid_. (A/N: I know the _real_ Eriol isn't as immature as to curse but hey he _is_ a growing 16-year-old) 

Kaho was looking at me in a nervous expression. "So—Sorry," she murmured lowly. She got up abruptly and left the room. I didn't bother to stop her. What should I say even if I did? But I did get out of my room. To go to the kitchen.

.:|| **Kitchen** ||:.

Tomoyo turned around. There was Eriol. Standing and staring at her as if she were a ghost. Their eyes met for the first time in days. It seemed everything was starting all over again. They felt like strangers living under the same roof. So close and yet so far…

~*~

A/N: Okay so I know this chapter is short. Next time the cats shall fight! Namely Pei Fen and Jessica. HAHAHA! I love to organize _that_ bickering pair! Who do you think will win? Anyway what do you think of the story so far? Far-fetched, okay, or just plain nonsense? Or are there too many things happening at the same time? And should I pro-long the Eriol Tomoyo problem? =) Ja ne and stay tune!


	11. Chapter 11 Confrontation of the Cats

**At Your Side** by Sagitta-RyuuHoshi 

**Disclaimer**: I will _never_ own CCS *****damn*****

**A/N**: Thanks for all your reviews! I felt like yelling out with joy (which by the way I did…) and running out in circles (which I did too!). REALLY BEEG THANKS!!! I LUV you guys, and here's what _you_ have been waiting for…Enjoy

~*~

**Chapter 11**: Confrontation of the Cats

.:||**Morning**||:.

Syaoran woke up in his bed. He couldn't remember anything about going back to the apartment the day before. But he did remember the mysterious girl cum street rat in London. He had felt the connection made of Clow Cards in between them. He _had_ to find her as soon as possible and make her give up the cards. They were his to begin with. Then it struck his head that today was a Monday. School day. Darn it. 

"Syaoran!" a girl's voice shrieked. Syaoran sat up at the nick of time to see Pei Fen running to jump onto his bed. Her black hair flew wildly as she landed quite hard on his lap. Syaoran's mind reached back to remember her while she planted kisses on his cheeks (A/N: EEW disgusting! I can't believe I just wrote that!! Kill me for it!!). 

A loud "Ehem!" at his door made her stop. Eriol and Meilin where there with different looks on their faces; Meilin, looking absolutely happy while Eriol was skeptically viewing them. Syaoran then realized the awkward position Pei Fen. She was on him with only a white t-shirt and shorts while he was only in his boxers. 

Mentally cursing himself, Syaoran shoved the girl aside and glanced at his alarm clock. It was 8:15am. He had around 45mins to get everything ready.

~*~

Meilin was chatting away enthusiastically. Pei Fen was staring dreamily at Syaoran while Eriol and Tomoyo had eyes only for their plates. Syaoran could sense tension in between them. He remembered they had a fight. It was then that he remembered that there was another girl with them. Who was she? (A/N: I'm helping him a little now. Be happy that he remembers something of her while she doesn't remembers at all) 

The doorbell rang. Syaoran went to answer it [Pei Fen clinging onto him]. A familiar scuffle from outside made him look into the door hole (A/N: That hole in your door that allows you to see who is standing outside…I'm not sure what's it called). 

A blonde girl was standing outside with a group of girls standing around her. (A/N: Yay! Its ole Jessie! Bet you guys missed her don't ya?) For a fleeting moment Syaoran felt glad that Pei Fen was acting like a puppy dog. He opened the door slowly.

"Hi—," Jessica was cut off when she saw Pei Fen glaring angrily at her. She glared back. The group of girls behind her hushed up, their smiles faded. "Excuse me, but _who_ are you?" Pei Fen said quickly before Syaoran could say anything. "_Well_ who are you?" Jessica shot back. "I'm his fiancée _if_ you don't know," Pei Fen replied haughtily. Jessica was caught. (A/N: I don't know who is worse??! Jessica or Pei Fen??) "Well now I'd like to know who _you_ are," Pei Fen pumped her on. Jessica gaped like a goldfish, opening and closing her mouth frequently. "Hmmm…? If you don't have any connections with anyone in this house, I believe you are trespassing," Pei Fen said maliciously. (A/N: I can't believe I'm actually feeling sorry for Jessica! _Sugoi_…)

"I'm sorry to interrupt your wonderful conversation but unlike _some_ people here, I do believe that _some_ of us will be late for school if you block the gate with your immense body mass," Tomoyo cut in icily. Pei Fen and Jessica glared at her. She kept her posture straight and haughty however and pushed the black-haired one delicately out of her way. Eriol followed her and Syaoran came last, head low trying to become oblivious to what was happening.

"_Syaoran_," Pei Fen whined. (A/N: _Please_…) Syaoran sighed, "Sorry but I have to get to school…" With that he ran after his friends.

.:||**Pei Fen's POV (In her Words)**||:.

I stared at his retreating back. Had the spell wear off so quickly? Just yesterday he was head-over-heels adoring me. Nothing could penetrate it…unless he had loved someone else before me…I _have_ to re-new the spell, that means, damn! I have to withdraw blood again…

The bitch standing at the doorstep turned around with a stamp and stalked off like the female dog she was born to be. The nerve of her! Syaoran was mine and mine forever, no one should interfere with our relationship. I have to find out who that ex-lover of his was, banish her and keep that Jessica off my territory.

Maybe it was that Daidouji…

Nevertheless, I went back into the apartment. The whole day was opened to me and the apartment is mine to explore. Meilin was going out shopping with some of her English friends. Thank goodness. But I almost pitied her, she fell into my clutches, helpless without the shield of magic, poor fool…well, _almost _did I pity her. _Almost_.

.:||**Sakura's POV (Her Words)**||:.

We were back in the warehouse, laughing and joking. Life was a bliss, with just the three of us, Ryce, Jynx and me, Sakura or Apple as I was now named. My mind searched back to that brown headed fool who tried to pursue me. Another discovery was made while I made my getaway. I could jump to a tremendous altitude into the air. It just stayed with me for a little while as the other powers had. I was getting the hang of them. They proved useful when I needed them at the most.

Jynx conjured up another sofa. The warehouse was already filled with luxuries. We had enough to not steal for our survival just by our powers. Ryce's elemental powers kept us warm with the fire she could produce. She could grow plants from cracks, create fresh water and control the weather in accordance to her mood if she wanted to. We had to keep her happy all the time. But no worries, she was always cheerful usually. It rarely snow nowadays.

Avis was our new gang member. She was a bird I found at that rooftop. Something had stirred in my mind when I saw her. She was a great companion at times when the other two left me out.

That was another thing. Jynx and Ryce were constantly bickering and as much as I know they hate to admit it, I knew they really like each other in their deepest darkest secrets locked in their hearts. It was sweet.

"Hey Apple, wad's abothering yaw?" Ryce nudges me. "Um? Nothing.." I muttered. "That was another wicked show you put just now," Jynx grinned. "Yeah, yer jumped an' disappeared, i' was 'mazing." They both looked at me with awed eyes. Avis twittered happily. She was resting on my shoulder as usual. "It was nothing," I admitted, "But I don't know, all this powers seem big to me. They come and they go just like that." I snapped my fingers to emphasize the meaning. "Suit yer self. Yer should really be thankful that yer go' all those powers…" Jynx trailed off. Ryce stared off into space. Sometimes I wonder whether she remembered her past. I didn't touch on it in any case, scared that she could be sensitive about it…

My mind wandered back to the brown-haired boy. I felt a certain connection when he looked at me. I doubted whether I should've waited for him to catch up or not. Was this regret?

~*~

'Cambridge College'. Sounds familiar. Ryce and Jynx had gone of by themselves. I stood in the open gates. A distant memory inside my head remembered the streaming students that went in every morning through this gate. Had I schooled here? 

I crept inside, fingering the brick walls and wooden benches. Fate had purposefully placed me here so that I could rejuvenate my memoirs. The icy wind pinched my cheeks, I ached for a nice fire to sit in front of. But I had to finish my quest. I must remember my past. The hallways were empty. The silence was still with pupils working away inside the confining classrooms. My boots tapped as I walked. The noise echoed softly. 

The Auditorium, that's what the sign on the door read. I pushed open the heavy red doors. 

The rows of seats were covered in a blanket of darkness. I stepped down the stairs, feeling the sensation of déjà vu. A movement behind me made me shrink into the seats. A class came in. 'Shit!' I cursed mentally, carefully concealing myself into the shadows and made sure I wasn't breathing loud enough for them to hear. I heard giggles, scuffling, coughs and an assortment of other noises. 

Someone flick the light switch on. The lights nearest to the stage lit up. I shrank below the seats, only my eyes and the top showed. I was curious on what they were going to do. The teacher stood on the stage. 

"Now Ms. Daidouji are going to announce the lead cast playing Romeo and Juliet," I heard him say. For some weird reason, this cause a ripple effect on the class. The teacher told them to shut up and they did, though rather reluctantly. A girl from the audience told who was going to play who very slowly in her clear voice that sounded familiar to my ears, "Li Syaoran will play Romeo…" all the girls in the audience cheered. A boy stood up onto the stage, looking slump and unhappy. I squinted and to my surprise, it was that brunette I saw in London! 

I covered my mouth to stifle the gasp escaping my throat. The girl in the audience continued but her voice sank in the noise that the other girls were making. She must have gotten angry because she stomped up onto the stage to shout the other parts. And then I got another shock. It was the girl from my visions! 

"You!" I exclaimed. It was only half a second later that I realized that I had said that aloud and the class had turned towards my direction.

~*~

A/N: Finished! R/R to your harts content. Ja! 


	12. Chapter 12 Remembering the Forgotten

**Disclaimer:** I don't own CCS obviously…

**At Your Side** by Anynn

**A/N:** Wow! I never though I'd reach e no. 40 mark and pass it… but I have! It makes me jump around madly…haha! Lotsa thanks to: **_Hana no Tenshi_**, **_love-card_**, **_Hannah_**, **_S&S Forever_**, **_steph_**, **_Kewl Kat_**, **_Astarya_**_, **SweetBabyGurl**, **Crystal-Chan**_ (you really write long reviews! There's no problem though =)_, **alflirtbabe** _n others (if there are!) of whom I can't remember =P Sorry! And another _gomen_ that I didn't update faster… overwhelmed with reading new great fics and my new fic… and I've been working at Xanga's!

**~*~**

**Chapter 12:** Remembering the Forgotten

**~*~**

.:||**Auditorium**||:.

Sakura tried to make a bolt for it. But several boys had climbed up the stairs, they had blocked both her exits. "Who're you?" the teacher was coming up. The girl panicked, she hadn't anticipated this. And where were her powers now?

"Sakura-Chan!" the longhaired girl was approaching. Her eyes were pooling up with tears. "You came back!" 

Sakura widened her eyes, obviously shocked. How did this girl, whom she couldn't remember, know her real name? 

.:||**Flashbacks**||:.

"Sakura-Chan! Anata kawaii-ne!" the girl's voice was sweet and melodious. But Sakura looked embarrassed at the way she was taping her with such craziness. The girl was practically filming from all available angles (A/N: NO illegal _angles_, please) around her in the school hallway. "_____-Chan! Please stop, it's the first day of school, what will every body think?" Sakura said self-conscious of all the stares they were receiving from their fellow schoolmates. It was their first year in high school…

.:||**~*~**||:.

"Look at that boy Sakura-Chan! He's so cute!" ____ was saying. She flipped a single long lock over her white shoulders. They were at a Christmas Eve party, probably in their second year since they looked a little older. ____ was wearing a lavender dress, the straps were translucent. Sakura looked around uncomfortably. Almost everybody was staring at them as they made their entrance. There was one main reason to explain this, they were two of the most well liked girls in their school.

The lights dimmed, a slow dance began. Everybody paired up, twirling around slightly to the music. ______ grabbed the chance to get with a school crush of hers. Sakura hung around, still uncomfortable with everything, her dress was outrageously short due to ______'s alteration to the original piece, the 'extra' people were eying her, not believing that she hadn't got a partner yet. Suddenly, her other best friend (a boy), Kai, came up, blushing deeply and offered her the dance. Soon, they were floating around the dance floor, later drinking the punch…

.:||**~*~**||:. 

"Tell her! Tell her you like her!" Sakura told the blushing boy. Kai looked away, "I don't know…she's so popular…" (A/N: He's another Syaoran case XD_) "And so are you!" Sakura shot back at him. "But she had all those guys revolving around her," Kai replied quietly. Sakura drew a strangled breath, she was feeling the pain of losing this boy, but only for his happiness, "And you have bishoujos(A/N: Sp?)! Praying to the very ground you walk!" _______ came up, "What're you guys talking about?" Kai blushed even harder. 

"He wants to tell Rina he likes her but he's scared," Sakura told her. (A/N: Bet you guys thought it was Tomoyo didn't you?=) "Thanks Sakura, now you can broadcast it to everyone in the news," Kai muttered. He looked at the sky, the fluffy clouds were passing by like cotton shreds. "How to tell her?" he wondered aloud. Sakura and ______ looked at each other knowingly. "Here she comes," ______ said, pointing at a black-haired girl advancing on them. "And she's alone," Sakura nudged Kai playfully…

.:||**~*~**||:.

"Sakura, we'll miss you," the dark-haired, blue-eyed boy told her sadly. "Yeah," Rina murmured softly. Sakura looked at them both. She remembered the crush she had on Kai. It felt as though it was all over ages ago. But whenever she looked at the couple, her heart felt stabbed yet again. Rijana had grown to be a rather good friend among ______, Kai and herself. She didn't want to make any sticky mess by confessing what she felt a long time ago.

"Sakura come on!" ______ shouted to her. She was at the gate already. The plane was leaving shortly. "Matte ______!" Sakura yelled back, a smile plastered on her face. "Can I have a moment with Kai please?" Sakura told Rina. The girl nodded and moved away. 

"Well, seems like a very short time isn't it?" Sakura breathed deeply. Kai grinned, "Yup, I still remember first grade, I though ______ was a snobbish rich daddy's girl and you were... um…" "I was what? And you better not tell her what your first impression of her was," Sakura smirked. (A/N: Possible you think?) "Truth be told, Sakura, I had a crush on you ever since I saw you," Kai blushed lightly.

"Oh," Sakura felt like crying. 'Why didn't I confess?' Sakura thought bitterly. "Then I wondered what the chances of a beautiful girl like you to like someone like me?" Kai muttered. "SAKURA!!!" ______ shrieked. "The plane is leaving!" Sakura gave a quick short hug on Kai. Then she turned to Rina and while they embraced she whispered fiercely, "You'd better take care of him because if I find you hurting that weak heart of his, beware of me." Rina smiled, "I take your word, Sakura." "Chotto ______!" Sakura ran on quickly to catch up…

.:||**~*~**||:.

"Stay of my trail you dumb pervert!" Sakura screamed into his face. The blond shrank away. All of a sudden his brazenness disappeared. Everyone stared at the freshman and the senior. They never thought a junior would confront a senior. _______ came up looking shocked. 

"If I ever find you after me again, you have my brother to answer to!" Sakura warned softly but loud enough for everyone in the silent hallway to hear. She stomped off with ______ . When she left, the whole corridor burst into a roar of mix laughter and applause. The humiliated boy ran off to hide his tomato-red face.

.:||**~*~**||:.

Sakura was sitting in her room, writing her diary.

**_'Dear Diary,_**

**_Loneliness is a two-faced emotion. At times you feel glad of having the privacy for yourself. And other times, when you see others in the company of someone special, your heart goes to pieces. I see many others in pair and me in none at all. Is it correct for me to isolate myself? To snapped at every hopeful boy coming up to me. Yet I feel so afraid thinking of my freedom disturbed and restricted if I find someone. _**

**_Tomoyo goes with a different guy every week. She can be very picky at certain times and at others, anyone just go. It's amazing that the campus doesn't run out of males. Or I have this strong gut feeling that the opposite sex changes their looks so that Tomoyo doesn't notice she was going with a same guy. _**

**_The Mirror comforts me a lot with my single life. Because she's a case like me too. I think she loves Touya but she's a card and what are the possibilities of that…_**

Sakura paused then she remembered Kai's words, *_Then I wondered what the chances of a beautiful girl like you to like someone like me?_* In an act of anger, she tore that page of her diary and threw it into the paper basket. "Stupid," she cursed picking up the pencil that rolled off. (A/N: Okay, so the real Sakura doesn't act like this…she's just angry)

.:||**~*~**||:. (A/N: The flashbacks are getting recent…)

"Tell me again why they have to be boys?" Sakura groaned while she set the table. Tomoyo rolled her eyes and replied, "They applied for the room before we transferred into this apartment. Actually many applied for it all we had to do was ballot if you remembered correctly." Sakura heaved in impatiently and asked, "So why do we have to have dinner with them? I've got a lot of homework you know, from Mr. Walter."  
"You can't trick me Sakura, you did the homework this afternoon in class. You advance math teacher took of a medical leave or something," Tomoyo said. She had put the final Japanese dish on the table. Sakura stared at the sushi and raised an eyebrow. "Sushi? What're their names?" Sakura seemed curious all of a sudden. "It's on the coffee table, the confirmation slip," Tomoyo said, proceeding to her room to brush up her hair.  
Sakura leaned over to he coffee table and picked up the piece of paper. She scanned the 'Name' section. 'Li Syoaran or Li Xiao Lang; Little Wolf' Sakura translated using the basic knowledge of Mandarin. 'We'll see if I can reduce the 'little' to 'tiny' after I deal with him. And the other is Eriol Hiiragizawa. A Japanese. So that's why there is sushi. I think I can trust myself to lower my dignity and play a little prank'

.:||**~*~**||:.

"D…Do you always g…go up he…here, Kinomoto?" Li asked sitting quite uncomfortably in the cold and on the roof tiles, beside Sakura. "When I feel lonely, I guess," Sakura replied looking dreamily at the stars in the sky. There was a silence in between them before Sakura decided to break it by asking a question, "Do you think of your Dad sometimes?"  
Li stared at her for a moment. He wondered what could possibly made her ask the question. Then he replied, "I don't know. I don't have much time to myself with all the things I need to do. But sometimes I remember him and I wonder whether he remembers me." He looked so downcast that Sakura felt pitiful. "My dad told me once that lost loved ones never forget who they loved. So if your Dad loved you then he will remember you at watch over you," Sakura said simply.

.:||**~*~**||:.

While they were washing the dishes, Sakura and Syaoran brushed each other's hands while they reached for the soap at the same time. They pulled away at the exact second and stammered while blushing furiously, "You—you take it." 

Then they laughed when they saw the funny thing about doing the same thing at the same time. In the midst of laughing, Syaoran pulled Sakura towards him and kissed her on the lips. Sakura felt his tongue wrestled with hers and her tensed body relaxed. 

When they separated, they were both speechless. Sakura left the kitchen immediately and ran to her room, leaving Syaoran still red…

.:||**~*~**||:.

The telephone was ringing. Sakura ran out of her room, still in a daze from the incident. She picked up the receiver, "Moshi moshi, Sakura speaking."

"Hello, this is Meiling, Xiao Lang's cousin. Sorry for intruding but he has some business revolving around his fiancée. Can you please put him on the line?"

Sakura froze. The girl on the other end kept wait patiently until it several moments too long. 

"Hello? Can you please hurry up?! Overseas calls are important you know??!" As if in a  trance, Sakura sleepwalked to the boy's room. When she knocked, there was no answer. She was about to hang up when she heard voices from Eriol's room.

As patiently as she could, she knocked on the door.

"Li-san, you fiancée called," Sakura's voice shook while she trust out the phone. Syaoran froze. 'Fiancée?' he was totally bewildered. He took the telephone uncertainly. Sakura banged the door shut while she left.

.:||**~*~**||:.

Sakura was on her bed. Sobbing. Confused. Feeling Betrayed. Didn't he kiss her? She had heard of boys like this but he never seemed like one. He was serious, responsible and was the most unlikely of all the male gender, so it seems. Looks can be so deceiving.

.:||**~*~**||:.

"FLY!" Sakura shouted, half-turning back at the Chinese boy chasing after her. She felt the light feathers on her back. Taking a deep breath, she took off and left into the cold night…

.:||**~*~**||:.

The night air pricked her skin. Sakura wondered whether it was tinged blue to numbness. She was already cold enough to release her grip. And even though she had been flying for one half hour, she still refused to land.

Her mind switched back to the jerk. The gaki, the brat, Chinese Brat. He _dared_ to come up to _her _ roof? The scared place she had kept secret that even her best friend hadn't know. The nerve of him and that stupid friend of him. Their troubles had started because of them. Who would have thought that two _mere_ boys caused emotions to run high? 

Sakura wondered how Tomoyo was now. She had heard sobbing from her room. But she still locked the door. Cool Tomoyo crying? _That_ was weird. 

The bitter wintry air was really getting into her. She made a u- turn back. But it was only a building away before she was engulfed in choking frosty air. Her hand was torn apart from the handle. The last thing she saw was the red beam turning back into a key before disappearing into the night… then darkness took over…

.:||**~*~**||:.

The sunrise reminded Sakura of fire. It was familiar, fire. She recalled knowing an animal of fire… then she noticed that her pants caught fire. She slapped on it frantically. A jet of water gushed out of her left palm, extinguishing the fire immediately. She froze. What was she really?? A mutant? What a way to start the morning. She found out her right hand could start a fire and the left shoot out water! Discoveries of the century! _Great_!

.:||**~*~**||:.

"Oh wow! Daddy, it's a white falcon! It's so beautiful," a young Sakura said in an awed voice. On her shoulder perched the graceful bird of prey. It was nibbling gently on the tiny ponytail the girl had carelessly tied that morning. Aiden looked at her above the pair of spectacles resting on the bridge of his nose. His clear brown eyes shone behind the glass lenses, he was a spitting image of a short-, brown-haired Clow Reed. 

"It's as free as when the wind blows, let it go Sakura-Chan," Aiden said gently. The mountainous terrain was peaceful and panoramic. Even though she was a mere five years, Sakura knew how dangerous it could be. It seemed that Skye, the name of the bird, wasn't fit for it. So she protested, "But Okaa-san, Skye won't ever survive out there." "It was made to survive," Aiden said again. Sakura reluctantly stood at the ridge. Skye took off, disappearing at the distance, "As free as the Wind that's how _I_ want to be… one day," Sakura whispered.

.:||**~End of all the Flashbacks~**||:.

.:||**Sakura's POV (Her Words)**||:.

Tomoyo! That was her name. My best friend and third cousin. Now I remembered. Everything was rushing back into my head. It felt like I had taken a step off the highest cliff and I was seeing everything going past me, re-realizing. 

"Tomoyo?" I tried to say softly. But nothing was coming out of my throat! I opened my eyes immediately. "Sakura-Chan!" her face was looming over mine. I sat up, I was in the apartment, my room, on my bed. I looked around, there was Tomoyo beside me, looking anxious, Eriol, the gaki and two Chinese girls I didn't  recognize. 

I clutched my throat. It felt weird, empty as though. I tried again. Tomoyo looked at me strangely, wondering what I was doing. I must have looked as though I was about to barf since she grabbed a paper bag and shoved into around my mouth area. I pushed her away and tried to tell her I couldn't talk.

"I think, that's the payment," Eriol said sadly. "What?" Tomoyo snapped. "We brought her back to us, she lost her ability to talk," Eriol explain. I heard a smothered giggle from one of the two strangers. I flicked my head in their direction. The blue-eyed one was suppressing a smile. I got up from the bed and boxed her right in the eye. 

She shrieked wildly. "GET OUT OF THIS HOUSE!!" Tomoyo yelled angrily at her. She looked stunned. I smiled grimly. If I had my voice, she'll be in for a lot of strange words. The gaki ushered her out. She was whining at him, "Syao—" but he whispered something to her and she gave him a peck on his cheek. 

My heart crashed. She was the fiancée that called him that night. I remembered the roof. Without warning, I leapt onto my bed, unlocked the trapdoor and crept into the attic room. I slammed the opening shut it as quickly as I could. I heard Tomoyo crying out for me and Eriol was probably trying to open the lock with some spell of his. Summoning up my powers to call upon the Shield, it held tight after some great hullabaloo underneath it. I went onto the roof…the cold night air was again beckoning strongly…

~*~

A/N: I brought her memories back =) maybe I shouldn't hmm… oh well…seems like there's more to write about…I didn't realize that…anything you want to clarify with me or suggestions perhaps? Tell me in you REVIEWS!!! Look at that blue button it sure look tempting ain't it? Well click it and you can type in your thoughts about this chapter! Amazing right? What are you waiting for? Click IT!!!

-Anynn- www.xanga.com/Anynn


	13. Chapter 13 Of Confessions & Unsecurity

**Disclaimer****:** I don't in any way own CCS so don't sue me. CCS belongs to CLAMP

**A****t**** Yò****ύŗ §ïĐέ** by Anynn

**A/N**: I didn't update my fics as often as I should! I am so sorry…T__T…but I've been reading your fics so I get caught up. They're good enough to keep me away from writing my own! That's real GOOD news for you! Thanks a LOT to the wonderful reviewers:

**Hana no Tenshi**: I noticed you've been reviewing my stories from day one! *hugs* Thank you so very much! Review more heh heh…your story is very nice…continue soon okay? 

**Crystal Chan**: I really like your oh so long reviews *nodding* haha…I don't mind them actually…how come you don't write any CCS fics? Hope you will soon…*winks* ^ — ~

**Aflirtbabe**: Your review made me think you were rushing! I can actually feel the energy…haha…weird …but cool! Syaoran does have a fiancée! Her name is Pei Fen (in my story)…it was named after this girl in my school who really is a big bitch…thankies for reading my story! Read on!

**Wolfy**: Am I really on your favorite story list? WOW…that's so cool…haha…I seem to be saying cool all the time! Arigato for reading! A long chapter coming up…make sure you read it with and extra supply of interest okay? I hope it won't be as boring as the flashbacks =P

**Ice Faerie**: Thankz so much!! Glad you like my story!

**TroubleMaker**: Don't worry, Syaoran _will_ lose his fiancée. This is PURE S+S with E+T of course! I should really delete all the bitches at the end of the story…but I'm too kind…I guess…besides the factor that I didn't update this sooner ne? haha…****

**Lady Arwen** **Greenleaf**: Really? You like the E+T romance better? That's unique… especially in a main S+S fic…heh heh…oh well, all the better…sorry I can't bring her voice back…yet…YET…so there's still hope right?

**S+S Forever**: Thanks! I'm really jumping every time someone says my story is great…here I go! *jumps* haha…here's the next installment:

**~*~**

Chapter 13: Of Confessions &  Uncertainty

**~*~**

.:||Sakura's POV ||:. 

I really wish my voice would come back. But it can't. Ever and ever I think. That blue-eyed Chinese girl was so freaking rude. Who does she think she is?

Then it hit me once more. She was the Gaki's fiancée. How could I forget…

Maybe it was fate that I'm not meant to be with someone…a single life didn't sound all that bad…except perhaps the term _old maid_ would take its toll when I'm ancient. Or perhaps I'd die young…maybe, just maybe…

So anyway, here I am, sitting on this cold roof once more. It was snowing. More like a blizzard, I thought. But I wasn't cold, not even in the thin shift I was wearing. The Float was keeping me safe in its protective encasing…I'm very much glad that I don't have to summon anything now. Willing it would be enough. 

It's peaceful. Peace is hard to find nowadays… but every now and then, my eyes would dart to the roof door, I hadn't lock his part of the trapdoor yet…perhaps he would come to his senses and choose me instead…

.:||**_Syaoran's POV_** ||:.

The girl was here! She's real. And her name's Sakura. Why did I feel a connection going on between us? Were we that close? Closer than even Pei Fen? It didn't seem right…I'm engaged and I'm hankering after someone I had difficulty remembering.

Wait…_hankering_? I'm admitting to myself, that I _do_ have an attraction towards this girl, Sakura. What was there to _not _like about her? So she may have shorter than average hair but the were _auburn_ close to red which is a very hard natural hair coloring to find. It was as though you found an exotic creature from a faraway land. And her eyes were emerald green…so deep and enigmatic…rare…

So what about luxurious black hair? Or maybe even the cornflower blue eyes? They were contacts not even real! Her hair, to the roots were really a mousy brown…

I'm criticizing my own fiancée! Dumping her for another girl like she was yesterday's popcorn? That had no dignity at all…I'm a Li…we have our own pride to take care of…

I stared up from my bed…thinking…Tomoyo had been frantic when Sakura scooted away into her trapdoor…Eriol was trying out great numbers of spells…none penetrated…she had the cards…and they were more than powerful…_trapdoor_…

THE TRAPDOOR! How could I forget?! Faster than lightning, I jumped up and swung it open. 

.:|| **Reader's POV **||:.

Syaoran stared around the small attic-room. It was only a month ago that he was here, curiously looking around…[A/N: Actually it's only been a few days…but that's too short right? Pretend it's a few weeks okay?]

He headed towards the roof door. There was a loud gale outside. Could Sakura be there? It wasn't possible…she'd freeze to death! But she _did_ have the Cards… 

"Force know my Plight,

 Release the Light!

 Fire!"

A small flame lit the card. Syaoran approached the door. Taking a deep breath, he stepped out. The snow was a flurry of blur white solids and the boy was chilled to the bone. Not giving up, he strained to make out a faint pink sphere in the haze. Was that her? In the Float? Syaoran's heart skipped a beat. Lifting his legs from the snow, he stepped closer.

Sakura was asleep. Curled up into a ball, looking calm at last. She looked more beautiful than ever. Her hair had grown in the past month, coming past her shoulder. [A/N: Pretty fast growing hair eh?] The image took Syaoran's breath away. How could he have forgotten such a beautiful being?

Then she stirred. Syaoran froze.

As if in slow motion, the girl sat up and they made eye contact.

.:|| **Eriol & Tomoyo** ||:.

Tomoyo was furious. How dare that blue-eyed hypocrite laugh at Sakura?! Who was she to do such a thing? So what if she's Syaoran's so-called fiancée? She had absolutely no rights! She was also furious with Syaoran. Why can't he keep his _fiancée_ under control?

Eriol was grim however. Sakura was his responsibility when it came to her well being when she was missing. He had failed miserably. Now she couldn't talk. Her life was ultimately distorted. And that sorceress was advancing dramatically, over-powering Syaoran already with probably that suspicious handshake she was forcing everyone she met to shake. He'd have to make sure Sakura never come in contact with her in any way.

Without realizing it, both of them had been working side-by-side, thinking of what should be done to Sakura's problem. 

"She could use the Song card…" Tomoyo suggested.

"She'd talk in a sing-song voice all the time. The school will think there's something wrong with her…" Eriol doubted

"There's NO choice, dammit," Tomoyo cursed. 

"We could just say she lost her voice…" Eriol said slowly.

"They'll send her to a special school! Then she won't have a chance to…" Tomoyo hesitated. Was she being selfish? She wanted everything to go along her plan. And she was talking to a boy. They were different, unable to understand certain things that girls were talking about.

Surprisingly Eriol chuckled. In an odd moment, this was certainly weird. Tomoyo snapped almost instantaneously, "What's so funny?"

"I know what you're up to, don't think I can't read your mind. You're trying to pair Sakura up with Syaoran aren't you?" Eriol smiled, an amused twinkle in his navy-blue eyes. 

Tomoyo covered her head, as though trying to block his telepathic transmissions, "How'd you know that? You can't really read my mind can you?" 

"Manner of speech," Eriol lied. He could in fact read her current thoughts. But he couldn't exactly pore through her mind and unlock her secrets within. Tomoyo still look distrustfully at him. For a moment or two, everything was okay. Then it went wrong all over again.

"So what _are_ we going to do?" Tomoyo asked. Eriol sighed and said quietly, "I don't know." Silence receded at the table.

.:|| **Sakura & Syaoran **||:.

Sakura stared at him. Her hands were flat against the Float's barrier. She couldn't recognize him at first but when she did, she immediately flung herself back, crashing onto the other side of the globe. 'Why is he here?,' she thought angrily. Tears were streaming down her cheeks.

Syaoran was startled. One moment she was peering at him, then without warning she threw herself backwards. He moved forwards, squinting, only to find out droplets of water was running like a stream down her face. 'Why was she crying?' he wondered. [A/N: Because of YOU! ^__-!]

The Float moved over him, Sakura was lying flat on her front, looking down at him. Syaoran looked up, not even bothered by the cold. They could see only each other, not the rooftop, not even the figure creeping up from the roof door.

.:|| **Tomoyo & Eriol** ||:.

"Can I ask you something?" Eriol as softly, breaking the silence that was stretching far beyond his liking.

"What is it?" Tomoyo replied, not paying attention. 

"Why was it that you were upset when Kaho and I…um…kissed?" Eriol asked nervously. [A/N: Which is her first name? Kaho or Mizuki??]

Tomoyo paused, thinking of what she should answer. Should she confess right now that she was still madly in love with him even after the cold treatments they had given each other? Or should she give a lie, that she thought it was rude? Or maybe she should just keep quiet? That seem good enough. [A/N: Seriously, that's wad I'll do]

"Did you and Kaho break up?" Tomoyo said instead of answering his question. She knew the answer but she didn't care. Eriol looked blankly at her. 'Why was she changing the subject?' he speculated. 

"Answer my question first," he persisted. Tomoyo crushed inside.

"I…I…" she stammered, turning red. This was going very bad. Saying the magical three words wasn't such an easy thing to admit after all.

"You…?" Eriol pushed eagerly.

Tomoyo was tongue-tied. Maybe she should be the one mute instead of Sakura…she thought bitterly. "Come on it's not that hard to say isn't it?" Eriol said, his patience trickling out.

The girl lowered her head, turning absolutely red. "Well? Spit it out!" the boy said impatiently. 'What is taking her so long to answer my question??' Eriol was mentally jumping around in his head.

"I…I…love you," Tomoyo burst out. 'Love at first sight,' she thought. Eriol looked at her, bewildered.

"I—I beg your pardon?" he whispered.

"I. LOVE. YOU!" Tomoyo repeated slowly with interjection at each word. There, she said it. "The moment I saw you, I was blown away…you were everything what the other boys I've dated before never was. Of course such a perfect person would be taken by someone as perfect. And it wasn't me. Kaho was everything you wanted. Everything…When I saw you two kissed…I felt like dying. It was probably very stupid of me. I've only known you for like what? Two days…and I felt like I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you! I'm sorry…I'm sorry I'd fallen in love with you in the first place. Both of you are perfect for each other. I've been a fool all this while…" Tomoyo broke down.

"Can you repeat?" Eriol asked, thinking he must not have heard right. Tomoyo stared at him, and with great effort she started all over again, " The…" 

"No, the last few lines…"

"I'm sorry?"

"Before that after the 'two days',"

Tomoyo looked at him, "I felt like I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you?"

Eriol looked up, "Is it true?" Tomoyo nodded, still crying. "I do too," he replied, realizing what he was trying to realize for the past month. 

The girl gaped, "What?" "I want to spend the rest of my life with you!" Eriol shouted happily. Tomoyo stood up and they embraced…at last. Smiling through her tears, she kissed him finally, a long loving kiss.

.:|| **Kaho** ||:.

Kaho was walking in the corridor. When she heard a shout, "I want to spend the rest of my life with you!" She recognized it immediately as Eriol's voice. He told her at last, she beamed, perfectly happy for them. She didn't enter their happy moment though. She knew better than that. She turned her heels and went back her way.

.:|| **Sakura & Syaoran** ||:.

Syaoran met her green-eyed gaze. It was so strange, how they capture people's gaze that easily and that intensely. He was confused now. Who was he truly attracted to? Sakura or Pei Fen? [A/N: SAKURA OF COURSE! DARN YOU!!! He he…] If he was feeling what he was feeling now, why does it change when he was around Pei Fen? Or was it vice versa?

.:|| **_Sakura's POV_** ||:.

I saw his face, puzzled. What was he contemplating? Then I saw _her_, creeping up behind him like a shadow, but clearly seen from my view. I started banging my fist on the thin shield. She mustn't get to him! NO! NO! NO! 

.:|| **_Syaoran's POV _**||:.

I looked up once more and saw Sakura thundering her fist upon the enclosing. Was she trying to beat me up without coming near me? [A/N: How lame is that?]

I felt a cold hand covering my mouth. What was happening? I wondered…my energy was draining away…

.:|| **_Pei Fen's POV_** ||:.

I saw that Kinomoto-girl frantically trying to warn him of my ambush. Her mouth opening and closing like a goldfish out of water. Hah! This was definitely the perfect chance. Syaoran was mine to keep or nobody would have him forever. Imagine how rich and powerful I could get if I was the wife of the Li Clan's leader? Positively loaded! Their family were littered with magic, straight descendents of Clow Reed and all mine to take their powers from. Who could resist an tantalizing bargain?

How pathetic, the boy went out as soon as I touched him. Cold was a definite no-no for this boy. 

A stinging sharp pain shot through my arm. I looked up and I saw _her_ walking through the blizzard as though she was a queen, enclosed in that odd orb of hers. A bizarre little being was bouncing here and there, aiming at me. "The Shot?!" I shrieked. _She_ was the owner of the powerful Clow Cards? That was impossible! A mere weakling? And she wasn't even using them properly!

I dropped Xiao Lang's body, storming towards the witch. The Cards were mine! MINE!!! 

.:|| **Reader's POV** ||:.

Pei Fen, enraged that Sakura was in possession of the Cards, was ready to beat the pulp of the girl. But Sakura wasn't that easily intimidated when she herself was in a frenzy.

Pei Fen started shooting sharp laser-like lights at Sakura. The Shield protected the Card Mistress and the light things bounced off. The Sorceress was stricken but more the more angered. 

The Fight began with an outbreak shots aimed at each other. Sakura threw many fireballs, ice shards and even leaves, at a speeding point, they would be very sharp if contacted with skin. Pei Fen was not doing too badly, unfortunately for Sakura. She threw in as much force as possible. 

'This is so stupid, I'm fighting over a boy!' Sakura muttered inside her mind. '_Your_ boy, Sakura,' that little voice awoke at the back of her head.

'What do you mean _mine_? He's not some possession I'm suppose to own. He's a human and he has to be respected,'

'That's why he needs you. Girls fight over him like an item they found in some shopping mall,'

'They're all dumb assess if they really are like that,'

'Precisely and though you are not like them, he needs to be saved by you,'

'Where d'you get all this crazy ideas? He can save himself while I have enough troubles in my own hands…'

At that point Sakura paused, a big mistake. Pei Fen at once pounced on the interval, sending a destructive blast. Sakura's thin shift immediately crumbled to pieces. And she stood there, unclothed in the freezing weather. Pei Fen laughed hysterically at her. 

Extremely embarrassed, Sakura asked Create to conjure a robe. Her body was instantly covered by a delicate pure white garment. Sakura fingered it, the cloth was shimmering in the icy surrounding. Pei Fen gasped, she must have looked very beautiful.

Sakura at once bound her in a string of thorn-pricked vines and chains, Wood and Create reading her mind. Then she summoned the Sword, and slammed the blade through the shackles to make an extremely strong lock.

"YOU'RE MUTE YOU BITCH! SYAORAN WILL NEVER CHOOSE A SPEECHLESS WIFE OVER ME, THE MOST POWERFUL SORCERESS IN THE WORLD! TO TOP IT OFF, I'M BEAUTIFUL, MORE STUNNING THAN YOU'LL EVER BE!! GIVE UP NOW!!," Pei Fen shrieked.

'SHUT UP YOU WITCH!!' Sakura was cussing inside her mind. Her eyes were a flaming green. How could this girl be so…it was so infuriating that there wasn't such a word to describe her properly! Ignoring the idiot, Sakura went to Syaoran's side.

He was stirring finally. His eyes opened and looked up at Sakura, "Sakura?" he muttered.

"What's happening?" he asked stupidly. "I had this dream that you and Pei Fen were fighting. You were great, girl." He smiled. Sakura smiled through her tears, praying harder then ever that she could speak. "Then you paused, frowning to yourself. Pei Fen shot a blaze at you…then…you were…" he hesitated, turning bright crimson and the image of Sakura… Sakura herself flushed, wishing she could sink down into the ground, but they were on the roof…

Syaoran staggered up continuing, "Ten something happen, you were garbed in this amazing robe glowing. You looked like an angel, divine…" he said softly…Sakura looked at him, surprised. He said she was divine? She yearned to be able to speak, saying "I LOVE YOU!" and kissing him soon after…but she couldn't, her voice wasn't there…she was mute…

"XIAO LANG! I'M UP HERE!! SAVE ME!!!" Pei Fen shouted. Syaoran glanced up, his face grew grim, "Oh you…what do you want?" he asked cold-heartedly. "I am your fiancée!" Pei Fen was growing desperate, hanging in mid air, tied up by vines and shackles

"You deceived me, _fiancée_. You made me think I loved you. You came and wrecked our lives…when it was already derelict…you hoodwinked me with your little spells. If only I wasn't so foolish, I'd have chased Sakura instead of being curious of who you were on the phone…You probably fooled Meilin too. What she's going to do with you when she find out, is none of business. A word of caution, she's **_very_** violent when she's angry. **_Very_** violent. You fought someone you don't even know, just for the sake of taking over my fortune. Well you won't have it and not only because of your bad reasons, an extra one for fighting my future soul mate. Well,_ fiancée_, do you think you're worthy of me?" 

Pei Fen was silenced.

"I think not," Syaoran ended quietly. Sakura lowered her eyes to the floor. 'He said future soul mate,' the little voice said. 'But…I can't except it…' Sakura replied sadly. 'You should be rejoicing!' the voice said again.

'If he can leave me because of some phone call  and a dumb ass of a girl, who knows who else would come up…'

'He chose you! You! What more do you want?'

'Security that he truly does love me…'

The voice said no more…The tears trickling down Sakura's cheeks iced-up mid-point, into frozen crystals…

**~*~**

A/N: She's not sure yet…poor thing…she just doesn't want to get hurt I suppose…I mean this is the first guy she ever liked ever since Kai (Chap. 12 Flashbacks). Understood, I guess…what you think? The cloak gave me an idea…hmm…maybe I'll write an original fic in fictionpress.com Pei Fen is really a worthless crap of shit…haha…I wonder id there really people like that in the world…oh yeah, I forgot, sorry to people whose name is Pei Fen and have good characteristics…next Chapter will be the Romeo and Juliet play! At last! With Pei Fen out of the way, things will be much easier ne? I will _make sure_ Sakura takes Juliet's role! Watch me *evil laugh*! Make sure you read okay? And review this one in the meantime…Ja!

-Anynn-

www.xanga.com/Anynn


	14. Chapter 14 I See it In Your Eyes Part 1

**Disclaimer**: If you think I own CCS, think again. 

**At Yòύŗ §ïĐέ ** by BlACkCAt

**A/N**: This is going to be the second last chapter or so. Or maybe there's the Epilogue and the Thank You list. And I changed my name yet again! =) Just can't help it. So grab some popcorn, coke and such if you really want to tune in. Okay! Here it comes…

**~*~**

Chapter 14: I See It in Your Eyes [Part 1]

**~*~**

Words were not exchanged when they climbed back into the apartment. Pei Fen was a handful with her struggling. Syaoran glared at her so much that his eyes were turning red on the whites. Sakura in the meantime kept her eyes everywhere but at the Little Wolf and the Bitch Witch. Her cheeks were so pale they were nearly transparent. "Eriol!" Syaoran yelled for his best friend. Eriol didn't reply. "Ass…" Syaoran muttered. Sakura kept the Move carrying Pei Fen. It took quite a lot of energy out of her since she was already tired and Move was only able to carry lighter objects and non living objects. 

"You won't get away with this, Kinomoto. Watch your back! I'll be after you once I'm freed," Pei Fen was muttering. 'You'll never be freed you ass,' Sakura ignored her. "Lost your tongue?" she scorned maliciously. Sakura controlled her anger, clenching her fist. She would be very violent if she was insulted once more. "Tongue tied?"…patience… "Dumb founded?" …a little left… "Pathetic weakling. Your mother is probably a prostitute. Your father, a play boy. You're probably an illegitimate child as well as all your siblings if you have any. All of poor blood, such pathetic morons. Which bank did you rob to get into this college? Must have been a lot. I wonder why the police haven't found you yet…"

Sakura turned around and kicked her in the shins as well as landed a square box on her right eye and jaw line. Blood trickled out of the girl's lips. Sakura's fist shook so much, she was in danger of having a fit.

"Sakura!" Syaoran gasped, "Shut up your damn mouth Pei Fen. You have no right to say that about Sakura's family." 

"Do I care? NO!!" Pei Fen was definitely losing it. She grinned through her bloody mouth, her purple eye accessory, crinkled painfully. "I'll win. Just you watch. I'll have the whole world bow down to me! And first on my revenge list would be you Kinomoto, you'll die a slow painful death. Oh and Syaoran, you'll be the most important guest at her torturing party. First Class. By then of course, your senses would be lost."

Sakura couldn't believe how someone can be so vindictive and still think she could still come on top. It wasn't any use cursing her or anything like that. It was hopeless now. Hopeless and disgusting. She pointed her finger at Pei Fen's mouth, it gagged. The Silent was working on her. Now she'll watch her trying to speak with satisfaction.

"Syaoran?" a voice entered the room. "Meilin? You're here?" Syaoran turned around. The girl was lying on the couch. "What's happened? Who's that girl?" she rushed up to her cousin. Syaoran told her to sit down and rest. 

Sakura went into her room with a silent gesture that she wanted to change into her normal clothes. She had been holding all her tears that they were stinging her eyes. Climbing onto her bed. She took out her pen knife…looking at her wrist… she wondered…lowered down the blade…a thin slice of blood seeped out through the cut…then it crossed…continually in a crisscross pattern…down her smooth satin-skinned arm…

**~*~**

[A/N: I'm not going to tell you how Meilin beat the hell out of Pei Fen 'cause I'm not so good at that and it would be pointless. Just imagine her(Pei Fen) looking real bloody or something]

"Can you check on Eriol? What the hell is he doing now?" Meilin said roughly. Pei Fen was unconscious. "Okay," Syaoran made his way to the boy's room. On the way there, he passed by Sakura's room. There was nothing to be heard inside. No pattering of feet or anything. He frowned but relaxed a little when he concluded that she could be sleeping.

Eriol came out, Tomoyo and him, both looking a little messy and disgruntled. But when they saw Pei Fen captured, unconscious and bound tightly. "Sakura did it all," Syaoran added, looking proud at the thought of it.

"You have _the_ one, Syaoran," Meilin said softly, happy for her cousin. "What are you going to do to this one now Eriol?" Tomoyo asked nodding towards Pei Fen. "A permanent memory spell and banished into emptiness. She's too dangerous too leave her here," Eriol replied grimly. "For the banished world, I think I'll need Sakura's help. Fetch her will you, Tomoyo?" he asked the girl, smiling. 

Tomoyo nodded and knocked on Sakura's door. "Sakura?" Tomoyo called out in her sweet voice. The girl inside didn't answer. In fact, there was no sound of movement inside at all. Tomoyo opened the door slowly, so slowly that the hinges creaked with the friction. Then she gasped.

"SAKURA?! NANI?!"

The rest rushed at her. Then, they saw a horrible sight.

The girl was silently cutting herself still. Not even wincing at the pain rushing all over her body. The blood was staining her soft pink bed sheets. Her hair was wet, her cheeks marked with dried tears. 

Cuts were inflicted upon one another, deepening into the flesh, the raw flesh was already showing. She looked up at the sound. Her startling bright emerald green eyes were filled with tears, bloodshot from previous crying. Her bangs stuck on her forehead. Tomoyo rushed up, only to be flung back by the invisible force of the Shield. Eriol, fortunately caught her in time.

"Sakura…please…don't torture yourself this way please," Tomoyo pleaded at her, crying herself. She got to her knees on the floor, begging hopelessly. Syaoran was motionless, staring at Sakura. "Why are you doing this to yourself? Sakura…please…" Tomoyo began beating the floor.

'I love you,' Sakura mouthed out slowly, 'Ashiteru…Wo Ai Ni…' Then ice froze over the bed area, Sakura inside it. "No, no, no!" Tomoyo screamed. "SaaKuuRaa…" she wailed, howling her heart out. But the ice stayed frozen. The room got cold rapidly, probably Sakura's doing, so that her friends would go away. They had to finally, the temperature going well below -35°C. 

.:|| **Sakura's POV** ||:.

I felt bad doing this. But I also felt it was right. Nobody would be able to understand my emotions now. I don't want them staying inside the room, so I made it considerably colder. It meant that I was also iced up. 

My breath came in small white ringlets. They were pretty so I had fun a little, breathing out the little fogs. The blood all over my arm had chilled. I picked off the strips, ignoring the pain. I saw my hands turning blue. In fact, I saw my bed turning sapphire, with the eerie blue glow. 

"Wow…" I breathed out. Not emitting a sound literally but a rasping breathe out. It was beautiful, cold perhaps, but beautiful. I could see the ice crystals, forming right before my eyes.

.:||** Syaoran's POV** ||:.

I went into Sakura's room. The cold was stinging up my nose, my eyes and inside my mouth. But I didn't care. I had to get to her. I cannot live if she weren't here with me. 

"Sakura?" I spoke with difficulty. The room got colder. It was a good sign even though I froze even more. She was at least listening.

.:|| **Viewer's POV** ||:.

Syaoran rubbed his hands for some warmth. He reached into his pocket and took out a crumpled piece of paper. Straightening it out, he cleared his throat. Then he hit his head. Cursing he ran out of the room. 

A few seconds later he came back, carrying a guitar. He cleared his throat again. Sat down on the ice cold floor and started to strum.

.:|| **Sakura's POV** ||:.

I heard him coming in. Don't they ever stop trying? I'm _trying_ to be depressed and miserable here! He cleared his throat. What was he trying to do?? Tell me that he's going to say something? What else can I do? Fine I'll listen.

Dull slap. Probably on his head.

Cursing. Honestly I don't know.

Pattering of feet. Finally he's gone.

Silence. Good.

Pattering of feet. He's back.

Clearing of throat. I'm listening already!

Strum of guitar. Huh?

Then I heard it. He started singing! SINGING!! Oh. My. Gosh.

**·   **_When the daylight's gone_**, **_And you're on you own   _**·   **_And you need a friend, Just to be around   _**·   **_I will comfort you, I will take you hand   _**·   **_And I'll pull you through, I will understand   _**·**

[A/N: Sweet ain't it? Did I tell you guys this was actually a song fic?]

I don't believe this. He singing my favorite song. For me. A gaki doing it. Not something you hear everyday.

**·    **_I'll be at your side  _**·   **_There's no need to worry  _**·   **_Together, we'll survive _**·   **_Through the haste & hurry  _**·   **_I'll be at your side, if you feel like you're alone   _**·   **_And you've nowhere to turn  _**·    **_I'll be at your side  _**·**

Does he really mean it all? I felt the tears coming to my eyes. He is so sweet.

**·    **_If life's standing still, and your soul's confused   _**·    **_And you cannot find what road to choose   _**·    **_If you make mistakes (make mistakes)   _**·**

Hey, who's that singing? Tomoyo? Eriol? Meilin? And who was playing the violin? _  
_**·    **_You can't let me down (let me down)   _**·**_  
_It's them! They're singing too. I feel so bad now. 

**·    **_I will still believe (still believe)   _**·    **_I will turn around   _**·    **_And you know that   _**·    **_I'll be at your side   _**·   **_There's no need to worry   _**·   **_Together we'll survive   _**·   **_Through the haste & hurry   _**·    **_I'll be at your side   _**·    **_If you feel like you're alone   _**·    **_And you've nowhere to turn   _**·    **_I'll be at your side   _**·    **_I'll be at your side   _**·    **_I'll be at your side  _**·**

The guitar was slowing down now…tears were pouring down my cheeks. My icy heart was melting.

**·    **_You know that   _**·    **_I'll be at your side   _**·    **_There's no need to worry   _**·    **_Together we'll survive   _**·    **_Through the haste & hurry  _**·**

His voice was so gentle…I can't believe it really I can't.

**·    **_I'll be at your side, if you feel like you're alone   _**·    **_You've got somewhere to go   _**·    **_'coz I'm right there   _**·    **_I'll be at your side   _**·    **_I'll be right there for you   _**·   **_Together we'll survive   _**·   **_Through the haste & hurry   _**·    **_I'll be at your side, if you feel like you're alone   _**·    **_You've got somewhere to go   _**·   **_'coz I'm at your side   _**·   **_Yeeeah, I'll be right there for you   _**·   **_I'll be right there for you yeah   _**·   **_I'm right at your side   _**·**

I huddled to myself. The song was nice and all. But what was this nagging feeling in me that something was amiss? [A/N: I'm a girl. And I know that you can't really please a woman. 'Cause we want more! Yea! Hehe] 

"Sakura?" he called after a moment. I guess he was waiting for me to melt all the ice. But I wasn't ready. No, not yet. I noticed that it was already warm enough that my breath didn't come in fogs anymore. So I lowered down the temperature, deliberately. More ice wrapped around the current layer. 

.:|| **Syaoran's POV** ||:. [A/N: Poor guy, really. But I can't resist to make him suffer. Hehe]

More ice covered the ice dome. The temperature was reduced. What's wrong with her? What more can she want? I nodded towards the others by the door that they should go. Meilin put down her violin, rather put down. They left in any case. But I lay down beside the enclosure. So I may die of frostbite. But at least I die beside my one and only. [A/N: Awww… so cute. No I'm not going to make him die. NO WAY!!]

.:|| **Eriol, Tomoyo & Meilin** ||:.

"Poor thing," Tomoyo said. "He's staying in with her. I wonder why Sakura is still stubborn. But she has always been a hard head," she sighed. 

"If only I could shake her common sense out of her. She must be living in her dream world right now," Meilin shook her fist fiercely. "Syaoran loves her. What else does she want?"

Eriol looked at them, "Love could be everything to some of us. But to a certain few, love must be accompanied by commitment, trust and assurance. Sakura is in that few, exceptional perhaps, but very hard at times like this. But that's true love for you."

The two girls fell silent. Tomoyo wrapped her hands around Eriol, hugging him tight, "I'm always here for you. You know that." "Of course," Eriol replied, hugging her back.

Meilin smiled and turned away from the couple. Then she spotted a coil of vines and chains on the floor. Her heart stood still. Where was the bitch now?!

"Eriol… Eriol…she's…she's gone…" Meilin panicked. [A/N: It's like talking about a murderer here. Hehe…I remembered a scene like that in one of the Scream movies. Or actually all the three…Hehe] "What? The daughter of a bastard," Eriol cursed. He waved his hand. The door slammed close. Everyone jumped. They all in danger now. If Pei Fen was even in the apartment. 

"She's in here, somewhere. I can still see her magic glowing from the vines," Eriol assured them. "Where could she be?" they all wondered aloud at the same time. Then it dawned upon them.

"Sakura!" 

.:|| **Sakura's POV** ||:.

I listened patiently. My breath falling heavy at the edge. I could hear him. He was breathing just as heavily as me. The cold was getting to him. Maybe I should…

What's that sound? Footsteps… 

"You!" I heard him shout. Then I heard the clash of swords. And I heard _her_. Her voice made my hair stand, "Be mine Syaoran. I can offer you more. More than the Kinomoto girl can ever. Together we'll be powerful. Reign the world! You and me. Queen and King."

"Shut your useless crap, Pei Fen. You mean _you_. In my veins run the blood of Clow Reed. I belong to the _GOOD_ side," he replied just as determined. "Ah, but do you _want _to belong?" Pei Fen asked. Stupid question, I thought.

But Syaoran paused. Was he kidding me?? Evil? Him? Yeah, he maybe my enemy but at least he's on the right side. 

.:|| **Viewer's POV** ||:.

"Let me think…" he replied. "NO!" "Then I shall force you. Whether you want it or not. Now let me through. I must kill the worthless piece of magic. She is all that stands in my way," Pei Fen hissed. "You're such a dork, you know that Pei Fen? I always knew you were. Ever since we were small. Buck-teethed. You looked like a rabbit. And your whinny voice. I wonder how I ever put up with you until I was seven. Now you think just because you look nicer than before, you can reign over us all. Bullshit! What do you want me for then? You play thing? Hah! I'd rather die," Syaoran spat at her. They swung the swords over each other. Blocking and thrusting until Pei Fen had a chance to speak.

"Don't you get it? I love you! YOU! I just want your love that's all," Pei Fen replied, sobbing. Syaoran's heart hardened, "Too late. My heart belongs to someone else already. If you didn't push it by force, I might have changed my mind."

Sakura inside the ice stared, unable to believe what she heard. 'He could've changed his mind? WHAT? If she hadn't forced him? CHANGE? CHANGE? I HATE YOU, YOU ASSHOLE!!' Sakura pounded on her bed angrily. 'GAKI. BAKA. I HATE YOU!!! You big liar. I hate you! You made me believe that you actually loved me. Now you're telling that witch that you could've loved her if she didn't force you?! I HATE THE SIGHT OF YOU AND I DON'T EVER WANT TO SEE YOUR FACE AGAIN!!!' she screamed, going crazy. She crashed against the wall of the ice.

The swords clashed, sparks sent around the room. [A/N: No fire starting. I'm dramatic but not that much]

Sakura slammed herself on her bed. Hammering on it.

Pei Fen was slashed on the arms. Blood flowed out.

Crying…crying…gritting her teeth…(Sakura) [A/N: Its alternately. Imagine the scenes switching from Sakura torturing herself and the battle outside the ice. I like action movies like that…Hehe…make me dizzy but the action is there]

Syaoran was stabbed at the leg.

Grime and blood filled her mouth. Bitter-tasting.

The swords clashed once more, reflecting the lights.

'Why…why are you giving me so much pain?' Sakura cried in her head. 'All I ever did was love you.'

The door slammed. "Syaoran! Pei Fen! Sakura!" Eriol and the rest came up. "Open the door!!" But the door hold still.

Bleeding from the back of her head, Pei Fen did a feeble thrust.

Sakura rocked to and fro inside the ice. She was sitting, curled up into a ball, thinking hard and crying.

Syaoran grinned through his bloody mouth, giving a plunge at Pei Fen's heart. 

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" Sakura burst out screaming. She started glowing.

Pei Fen's body started glowing.

The ice confinement broke up. The shards were flying everywhere, hitting Syaoran at the head. He hurtled onto the wall. In the last few moments that he was awake, he saw a dark orb float out of Pei Fen's heart, turned red and flew into Sakura, who was glowing yellow, pink and a mixture of others herself. They clashed and a blinding light filled the room. His heart, at peace, slowed down and he fell into deep sleep in the softening radiance. [A/N: He's not dead, don't worry. 'Cause the play haven't started yet.]

.:|| **??? POV** ||:.

"Syaoran…"

No…no…

"Syaoran…"

I'm trying to be dead here…

"Syaoran… wake up…"

Don't I have peace even when I'm dead??

"SYAORAN!!"

Fine…fine…

I opened my eyes, mumbling, "Am I dead?" "No silly," Meilin came into focus. Eriol was on my other side. "No? Oh…too bad…" I muttered. Sakura! "Saku—"

Meilin moved and I saw behind her, Sakura, lying on a bed. She looked stern, serious, her mouth was set. It was amazing that they could smile so warmly. "Dead?" I asked, hoping she wasn't. "Do you want her to be?" Meilin asked sarcastically. "No…no…" I tried to shake my head. I sat back. At least she was still safe…

**~A day later~ **.:|| **Viewer's POV** ||:.

Syaoran sat beside Sakura's bed. She hadn't awoke yet and her face was still stubborn and fierce. Holding her hand between his own, he made a silent vow, "Sakura, please wake up. I promised I won't hurt you anymore. Promise." 

Her hand slid away. She had awoken.

But she turned her head away. "I don't want your false promises," she muttered softly. Her voice was scratchy and strange. Her voice had returned. 

"You can talk…" Syaoran said. 

"Never again to you," she finished.

"Please…forgive me…" Syaoran pleaded. But she didn't answer, her face turned away from him.

"Sakura!" Tomoyo came in. Sakura sat herself up. Syaoran tried to help her but she pushed his hands away, not even giving him a glance. His heart fell.

She set on her best friend, smiled. "I can talk again, Tomoyo," she rasped. Tomoyo hugged her. "Good, now you can act in the play," Tomoyo told her. Sakura sweat-dropped, her smile a bit lop-sided. "Especially since you have the main part along with Syaoran," Tomoyo said, giving her a 'look'.

But Sakura put on a confused look, "Who?" "He's beside you Sakura!" Tomoyo exclaimed, frowning, puzzled. What's up with Sakura? She can't have amnesia again. Sakura turned to Syaoran, "I can't see anyone there…not anyone important anyway."

"Sakura…" Tomoyo trailed. Then she saw Syaoran's crestfallen look and she understood. "You'd better get some more rest, Sakura, I'll see you again in the afternoon for lunch," she said. Sakura nodded and snuggled under the covers.

Syaoran wheeled himself out of the room. [A/N: He got hit at the leg remember?] 

"She hates me," Syaoran said quietly when they were out of earshot. "Well, you're not going to give up are you?" Tomoyo asked ardently. Syaoran stayed silent. "Well?" Tomoyo gripped his shoulders, shaking him slightly. 

"I don't know. Maybe she'll keep on pretending she doesn't know me or can't see me. It'll be hopeless like that," Syaoran replied. "She can't pretend forever!" Tomoyo replied confidently. "Well, she won't talk to me then," Syaoran said. "Two words: watch me," she told him.

**~Two days later~ **[From the day Pei Fen crossed over]

Sakura was up and about again. Fresh and as though restarted, she was looking radiant when she came out of her room for breakfast. Her clothes were crisp and light, pale blue sleeveless top and a white skirt over leggings. Her hair was in a loose ponytail, the strands framed her face perfectly.

"Ohayo Tomoyo-chan, Hiiragizawa-san, Li-san," she greeted. [A/N: I watched this show and you're supposed to greet everyone individually in Japan. Like Ohayo John, Ohayo Kim…dunno…I'll cut it short…too lazy to type it all anyway] She said only one Li-san and Syaoran knew she meant it only for Meilin. "Ohayo Sakura-chan," they all chorused. After saying that, Syaoran looked back at his plate of pancakes.

The others had deliberately sat in such away that Sakura was left to sit facing Syaoran. She sat down and helped herself to the toast and egg. All the while she didn't once look up. When she finished, she got up to leave the table. "Aren't you going to  try the pancakes, Sakura-chan?" Tomoyo asked. "You love pancakes, don't you?" "No thanks, I'm too full," Sakura replied, smiling. 'I'm never going to eat what ever that jerk is eating…we'll have nothing in common…ever' she thought grimly. [A/N: I have this habit too…stupid perhaps…but you can't help it when you have it…I hate green because my enemy loves it…and he's in the green sports house in our school…]

"I'm off for a walk at the park! Ja Mata," Sakura announced pulling on her blades. The others watch her sadly, their gaze switching from her to Syaoran who was dejected. 'Sakura…' Tomoyo drifted…

.:|| **Sakura's POV **||:.

It was a cool morning. So I grabbed my cardigan on the way out. It was autumn. And leaves were colored and falling gracefully from the branches.

I stretched out my arms, breathing in the fresh air. The walks were scattered with few people. I turned back, heading to the pleasant market stalls. Living here for a year or so, the stall holders were rather familiar with 'the auburn-haired, emerald-eyed Japanese girl'. I got a couple of apples and a bouquet of daisies free. Asides from cherry blossoms, I love daisies. They were always so cheerful-looking. I blade down to the park and sat on a bench. 

The apples were so red and crunchy, my mouth was full of sweet juice. I took out a book, Rainy Day [A/N: One of my upcoming fics! =)]. I had it for sometime but didn't have the chance to finish it. Maybe I could finish it by today if I have no interruptions. Oh golly! Look I've only a little more to go.

.:|| **Viewer's POV** ||:.

Syaoran limped out of the apartment a quarter of an hour later. His leg was still weak even though Eriol had already close the wound. "Perhaps it's the impact it had, you leg could still be in a state of shock," he laughed. Syaoran hadn't laughed though. The scar on the leg was what Pei Fen had left him. 

He hadn't realize it but he hadn't been smoking for quite sometime now. Ever since Sakura had taken the cigarette from his fingers that night. She was influential, it seemed. She should work in a rehabilitation center. 

Walking down the streets, he stopped by the café beside the park for a cup of coffee. Sipping his coffee, he walked out and decided to stroll in the park. He had all day to burn. Better start now.

He took out a book from his knapsack, Rainy Day. One of his ex-s had given it to him. He rarely had a chance to read and though it was more than three years ago, he hadn't finished it. But with little excerpts read at a time, he nearly finished it. It was only a chapter surplus.

Strolling down the trail, surrounded by the colorful array of trees and peace, he read and drank consecutively. The last passage he read aloud in relief. Murmuring, "He…" and he heard the similar words whispered by someone on his left.

The someone seemed to have heard him too because she stopped and looked up. Amber met emerald. Their eyes widened when they realized that they had been reading the same book and finished at the same time. Coincidence or fate? Neither could decide. And they ended the last few words, softly as if in a trance, "...on a rainy day." eyes still on each other.

The stupor broke seconds later, Sakura shutting her book, standing up and walking away without so much a glance back. Watching her pacing away, Syaoran fought the impulse to chase after her. She wouldn't talk to him anyway even if he did manage to catch up with her. 

.:|| **Sakura's POV** ||:.

My heart, the muscle, was palpating so hard I could hardly breathe. He was reading the same book? And we completed… My cheeks burned. Why was everything so hard on me now?

He looked so lost and disheartened…all thanks to me. But I can't…its much too soon. I sighed and skated away, not knowing where I was heading. My heart, the spirit, is still torn.

.:|| **Apartment(Tomoyo, Eriol & Meilin) **||:.

"I wonder what each of them is doing now…?" Tomoyo sighed dreamily. "Maybe they met up and apologized?"

"Dream on…" Meilin said, flipping through a magazine. 

"Don't be such a pessimist," Tomoyo replied. "There's still hope in my plan."

"What _is_ your plan, Tomoyo?" Eriol looked up from his spell book. 

"Its purely simple. The play's coming up right–?"

The others nodded.

"I'm in charge of the cast right–?"

More nods.

"So–"

Meilin leaned on her arm waiting for her to continue.

"I'll just pair them up together and when Syaoran has to say the–"

Meilin slapped her hands, "Now I get it! He says from his heart and unless Sakura is denser than I think she is, she will know…"

"I dunno…the plan's too risky…" Eriol said quietly. "Come on…what've we got to lose?" Tomoyo folded her arms. 

"Sakura's trust from us?" Eriol replied coolly. Tomoyo pressed her lips together, thinking, "Well, we can't stay stagnant can we? Its all or nothing."

"Yeah!" Meilin cheered on.

"I still think it's best to leave things to work out for themselves," Eriol said doubtfully, still not looking up from his book.

"Alright! I'll bet you, if the plan succeeds, you owe me–" Tomoyo paused to think for a moment what reward she should get. "A week full of kissing?" Eriol suggested hopefully. "Yeah, it sounds good," Tomoyo said eagerly. "Vice versa if it doesn't work."

"That's stupid, you guys smooch anyhow," Meilin retorted, rolling her eyes. "Okay, we'll be each other's servants for a month how the plan goes, okay?" Eriol said. "I guess…hey, I'm not included in this so I don't care…as long as the two get together," Meilin turned back to her magazine. "Of course," Tomoyo had the last say to the conversation.

**~ End of Part 1 ~**

**A/N:** Okay, that's the end of part 1. Thought I'd stop here for a moment…Part 2's up, anyways. Would you like to review for this chapter? Hehe…press da blue button if you want to. Or you can proceed to Part 2 straight away! See you there!


	15. Chapter 15 I See It in Your Eyes Part 2

**Disclaimer:** I'm just a wannabe writer. I don't own anything…yet. In any case, I don't own CCS 'cause Clamp's got it.

**At Yòύŗ §ïĐέ ** by BlACkCAt

**A/N:** This is Part 2 of the last Chapter. Its suppose to be one whole chapter but it'll look weird if I have to keep on writing time intervals. It looks weird to me anyway. Okay, so it doesn't matter to you. This is the last chapter

Here we go!

**~*~**

Chapter 15: I See It In Your Eyes [Part 2]

**~*~**

Sakura made her way back to the apartment in the verge of tears. There was a terrible ache in her heart that she couldn't diminish the whole time she had been in town. After meeting Syaoran at the park, she tried to carry on her plan for the day as if nothing had happened. But five hours and numerous mugs of decafs, cappuccinos, mochas and ice-creams later, she couldn't shake it off and was forced to return home, near to a mental breakdown. But her stubborn streak wouldn't give in.

Ignoring the concerned look the other three were giving her, she shut herself in her room with a reassuring reason that she wanted a rest.

In her room, Sakura sat down at her desk and started writing in her journal, **_Dear Diary…_**

Her pen stopped and two droplets of water stained the page. Unable to think anymore, Sakura slammed shut her journal while trying dismally to stop the running tears from falling.

.:|| **Syaoran** ||:.

It was certainly awkward after the park encounter. He wondered if she was at home right at the moment. 'She should be' he thought while looking around. It was sunset and growing darker at each ticking moment. His leg was better by now, accustomed to his rough movement.

He was hanging around the alleys, desperate for a quiet place to think. But each time there would always be a tramp staring at him with bulging eyes, or a kid begging him for money, or a female cow checking him out by the corner of her eyes. 

Taking out a stick from the packet in his jeans, he shoved it into his mouth and lit it. The relief spreading through him was unimaginable. But he was nearly coughing with the smoke at the first few instants.

"Can yaw spare one fer me?" a hand spread out under his view. Syaoran looked up and saw a familiar face of heliotrope eyes and dark hair. "You!" he coughed out.

"Me? I ain't know knowin' I'm popular wi' foreign folks! Betta kip ma head down!" the boy widened his eyes, genuinely shocked and surprised that Syaoran hinted of knowing his identity. "You're with Sakura the other time!" Syaoran continued, throwing away the cigarette.

"Sakura?" the boy scratched his head confusedly. "Auburn haired girl? Green eyes?" Syaoran asked. "Oh yaw mean Apple? She disappeared weeks ago. Dunno wad happened ter her. She was migh'ty useful. Fast hands she's got. Grea' thief. Ter bad she went away. Ryce ha' a fit, poor ol' gal…hey! How'dja know who Apple is?" the boy grew suspicious. "I'm a fr–I'm acquainted to her. She's…er…a family friend of mine," Syaoran stumbled on his words. "So whatcha want wi' me?" the boy asked. "What's your name?" Syaoran asked. "Jynx," the boy said. "Just Jynx?" Syaoran arched an eyebrow. "Yea, ya go' a problem wi' tha'?" Jynx asked heavily.

"No, no," Syaoran replied hastily. "So you givin' me tha' cigarette or not?" Jynx asked eagerly. "No, cigarettes are bad for you," Syaoran replied absentmindedly. "Selfish," Jynx sulked. "Listen, did she mention anything about me?" Syaoran grew hopeful. "Nope–" Jynx replied. 

Someone else interrupted, "She mentioned a boy in her sleep, sometime ago." "Ryce!" Jynx exclaimed. The blonde ignored him and continued glaring at Syaoran, "Whaddya wanna know abou' Apple?" "Just–just…what she's been doing when she was missing," Syaoran stammered. He was getting nervous by Ryce's fierceness. "How can she be missin' when she's found?" Ryce shot back, folding her arms.

"Well, she _was_ a month ago…" Syaoran dragged off. "I know she was with you…but…" Suddenly the reason he wanted to know what Sakura did when she was missing didn't seem important anymore. He merely wanted to know if she had mentioned him…or said anything close to 'I love you'.

"But what?" Ryce snapped. "Nothing…nothing…" Syaoran  muttered. He looked up, surveying the street rats Sakura had hanged out with before. Jynx was the rugged one and Ryce…Ryce…she was certainly pretty. Her hair was blonde…but it was red at the roots…she must have dyed it. Her eyes were kind of a mixture of blue and green. They looked unworldly as though they weren't Earth's creatures. 

Then he saw the girl playing with a ball of fire between her fingers. She was rolling the little flame in and out of her fingers. "You…you…" Syaoran stuttered. "I what?!" Ryce extinguished the flame with a rapid flick. 

"Magic…" he breathed out. "Its not magic…" Jynx said. He waved his hands and a leaf appeared in mid air. "Its called _gifts_. Magic are those hocus-pocus things. Fiction, make-believe, bogus," he played with the blade of leaf. "But I have magic…" Syaoran took out an Elemental Card [A/N: I dunno what they're called…so yeah…] 

He muttered and incantation and the card ignited. "That's enchantment," the two replied. "That's the same meaning as magic!" Syaoran replied. They shook they heads.

Syaoran grew confused but decided to let it pass. He hadn't the time to wonder which planet these two came from. "Okay, call it whatever you want. I just want to know what Saku–Apple– said about m–the boy in her sleep," he said.

"She mouthed something like Showron or something… love… you… why… hurt… no… she… bitch… hate… stupid… but it was gibberish…I can't lip-read," Ryce said. "Mouthed? So she didn't' speak?" Syaoran asked. "I said she _mentioned_ not said or some other word," Ryce pointed out.

"Okay, don't blow my head off," Syaoran muttered. "Can I have that cigarette now?" Jynx asked hopefully. "If you settle with me a deal…" Syaoran replied grimly. The other two looked thoughtful.

**~ Monday ~** .:|| **Sakura** ||:.

Sakura woke up with a jerk and found that she had fallen asleep on her desk the whole night. Disgusted that she was still wearing the blue blouse and white skirt, she ran into the bathroom straight away. 

She joined the others at the breakfast table minutes later, looking pretty in a pink t-shirt and knee-length khaki skirt. She noted Syaoran was eating toast so she grabbed herself, pancakes. He hadn't even look up, busy reading the morning newspaper. She felt a pang. Had he stopped trying to pursue her already? All the better she supposed. 

Cutting her pancakes into neat portions, she asked Tomoyo to pass the maple syrup. Syaoran seized it before Tomoyo could, so it seemed. Truth be told, Tomoyo was crushing his foot to hint that he should pass it. But Sakura didn't know that.

She took the bottle, slightly brushing against Syaoran's hands. He blushed, happy that his face was hidden behind the papers. 

The others smiled observantly. Sakura scowled but continued to indulge into the plate of pancakes. "So Tomoyo…urm…have you decided who's going to star as Juliet in the play?" she asked, trying to change the subject of their facial expressions. But she hit the wrong note, Tomoyo beamed even more and replied, "You of course! And Syaoran will be Romeo!"

"WHAT?!" the brunettes shot up out of their seats. "NO WAY AM I–"Sakura started. "I DON'T THINK–" Syaoran yelled. Sakura glared at Syaoran who was red in the face. The boy looked away. "This is bullshit," he swore. Grabbing his bag, he ran out of the house. 

Sakura sat back on her seat, white-faced and angry. "I don't believe you guys. I trusted you! And you're trying to what?! Match-make me and him?! This is so f*cking stupid. Why can't you just leave things as it is?!!" she said furiously. Eriol and Tomoyo stared at her, blinking. Sakura had never been this violent before. Meilin however was sitting back, enjoying the free movie.

Sakura got up and stomped out deliberately slamming the door on her way out.

.:|| **Tomoyo** ||:.

'You'll thank me after all of this is done, Sakura' Tomoyo thought. She looked at the other two, "Let's just wait for this to work out ne? And Eriol, the plan's not a fiasco yet." Eriol looked disappointed but on the other hand, rather worried. "Do you think this is wise?" he asked doubtfully. "Oh shut up and just watch the free drama. Let Tomoyo do the directing," Meilin said. Eriol still looked more worried than ever. "I hope you know what you're doing…"

.:|| **School** ||:.

Sakura got to school close to a fit. She swung her locker door so roughly that the next locker beside hers had an indent. Now she's stuck with the brat during rehearsals, school, home, mealtimes…what _was_ Tomoyo trying to do? And the _gaki_ was probably part of everything. Can't he just give up? As she had thought early that morning. 

.:|| **Sakura's POV** ||:.

I hate my life. I hate school. I hate my best friend's habit of interfering into matters that she shouldn't interfere with. I hate the jerk. I hate the blue-haired smiling idiot. I hate that Chinese girl-cousin of the jerk. I hate my teachers. I hate Jessica Lange. I hate her group. I hate this world. I hate this country. But I hate myself above all.

What the heck was happening to me?? Why can't I give in to whatever everyone wants? I can't try anymore!! Wish I was back in carefree Japan. With my Onii-chan and Otoo-san. 

I sat down on the toilet seat, trying so hard to stop my sobbing. _Think Sakura_. _Think straight_. I told myself. But my mind was all jumbled up. Like a ball of colored threads intertwined with each other… _horrible_.

My watch was ticking. It was two minutes to Math class. Jerk was there. Should I skip the lesson? The thought of Otto-san's money going down the drain made me get up. The toilet was mercifully empty. My eyes and nose were red so I waited for it to lighten up. 

When I left the toilet, my nose was slightly pinkish but at least my eyes were quite normal. Let's make the best I can of today. Probably pray that the Idiot would be gone by tomorrow or next week.

I entered the classroom. It appeared normal, as thought nothing had happened. The Bimbo group were, as usual, giggling hysterically among themselves; Mr. Seanen was sitting at his desk, marking work while waiting for the bell to ring; my 'ex'-gang were already at their places at the back of the room, Eriol and Tomoyo's dark heads were bent together over something they were reading, the Idiot was sitting by himself, staring into space while looking like a retard.

I debated to myself whether I should sit with them. There wasn't any difference anyway since I wasn't going to talk to them at all. So I plonked on my seat, took out some Tarot Cards and played about. [A/N: If I offended anyone's religion or something…er…its purely unintentional…sorry] 

I used to this whenever I was angry. Usually with the Clow Cards since they look so much like tarots. Tomoyo and Eriol didn't bother me. Good for them or they heads would be missing instantaneously. 

Maybe it was a wrong move but I kept on receiving the 6th Card, The Lovers upside down; 11, Strength, upside down and the Fool on the right side up. Is everything against me now?? And that stupid nagging feeling I have somewhere in me…

The bell rang on the second before I was ready to tear the tarot cards to a zillion pieces. Lucky them…I thought, taking out my note book to take down notes for the English lessons. 

**~ At the End of the Day ~**

"Tomoyo will now confirm what part you guys shall be taking on for the play in a fortnight's time," Mr. Seanen finished with the most dreadful sentence. Tomoyo got up and ran down the steps, facing the class. She flicked her dark hair over her shoulders. For a moment she resembled a supreme queen that my life depended on. 

My heart was beating faster than usual. I clasped my hands as though praying, biting my lips taut till it bled. But she was merciless.

"Juliet– Kinomoto Sakura." I swore my heart stopped for more than 30 seconds while I sat motionless on my seat, hearing the other names being read out like water rolling down a rock.

'Romeo– Li Syaoran." Perfect…Yay! Gimme three cheers! Hip-hip—HOORAH! Hip-hip—HOORAH! Hip–hip—

.:|| **Syaoran's POV** ||:.

I saw Sakura sat rigid on her seat when Tomoyo read out her name. She sat on, stiff as a board. When my name was read out, she started hitting her head on the table while mouthing out some words I couldn't make out…WHAT—??!!! Me? ROMEO??

Let's see the world end. Maybe a meteor should hit earth at this current second 'cause I don't want do die from Kinomoto's wrath…

.:|| **Reader's POV** ||:.

"Rehearsals shall start every day from tomorrow's afternoon. Those who will be in the main cast, please meet Tomoyo for your scripts. And those not chosen, please approach our prop master, Evan. Class dismissed," Mr. Seanen said after all the names were read out.

The class immediately erupted in excited chatters. The girls in the 'Bimbo Group' sent Sakura cold looks of hatred and jealousy while the more sporty and the romantics came up to her and gave their congratulations. "Congrats Sakura! I like so~ envy you!! Syaoran and you make the perfect couple!" Gina Fant, the class most biggest romance reader came near.

Sakura who was still staring off into space, slowly looked up at the girl with an expression of pure disgust. Looks, looks and looks, that's all they care about, she thought. What about personality? Security? Honesty? Respect? And all those other important traits? This world is so shallow…

She got up, unable to stand it anymore. 

"Congratulations, Kinomoto. You got the part that I tried for. Amazing," Jessica Lange stopped her on her way down the stairs. Sakura stared coldly into her blue eyes, making serious eye contact. "Get out of my way, Lange," she said. 

"What? No spiteful answers? Come on, I know you can do better than that," Jessica mocked her. The other girls tittered. "Why? Have you prepared a speech of words that you can reply to me? Record it on a tape, I haven't got all day to stand her to listen to you to stutter them all out," Sakura tried to swerve away from them. Jessica blocked her, now wound up, "You'll never get Syaoran, Kinomoto. I'll always be better than you. Face it." 

Sakura resisted the temptation to smack her face and said as quietly and patiently as she could, "First of all, I'm not planning to get him. He's not a possession and even if he was, I won't want to own such a hideous thing. Second, if you so very well better than me, why is it you have to flirt and flaunt you sluttish body to get your guys when all I have to do is stand where I am or why is it that you can never answer me when I pass a remark at you. Third, _never_ try to get into a fight with a Kinomoto, you'll lose whether you like or not. Fourth and fifth, shut up you stupid blabbering mouth. You can't seem to do that, it takes two points."

Jessica gave her a poisonous glare, unable to say anything though. "Glaring won't help," Sakura walked pass her group. 

"Bitch," Sakura muttered. She snatched the script from Tomoyo, almost tearing it in half. Tomoyo looked calmly at her as she ran out of the door. She raised a hand to stop Eriol from talking. "I know what I'm doing," she reassured him. He, however, still looked skeptical.

.:|| **Syaoran's POV** ||:.

I saw Sakura got ambushed by Jessica's gang. They exchanged a few words before Sakura made a real long speech which made Jessica dumbfounded. 

I admire her so much for her fierce determination which was also obstructing her from getting my message. _Sakura…why can't you see it…_

.:|| **Sakura** ||:.

Sakura roughly changed into her cheerleading costume. The girls in the changing room got well out of her way, scared of being singed.

On her way out to the school field, she fell splat on her face, tripping over her laces. She banged the ground with her left hand, got up and stomped her way to the bleachers while sporting her bleeding nose, still cursing inside her mind, oblivious to all the cheerleaders and soccer players staring at her.

'Stupid, stupid' she muttered inside her mind while she bent over to tie her laces properly. Her nose was still bleeding a little but she wiped off the flecks of blood in an exasperated fashion. Then she retied her hair into a high ponytail. 

"Sakura?" someone asked. "What?" she snapped, looking up. It was the cheerleading captain, Vanes Willis. She looked rather scared. "Uh…did I catch you at a bad time?" 

Sakura shook her head in an apologetic way, " Oh, sorry…I just–I –well…" "Monday blues?" Vanes suggested. "Uh…yeah," Sakura lied. "Your nose okay?" Vanes sat beside her. "Nothing much," Sakura replied, using her tissue to wipe the blood away. "Well, practice is starting in a quarter of an hour, you better start warming up," Vanes got up. "Uh…yeah, okay," Sakura replied lamely. 

She went back to the field, still looking rather pissed but cooled a little. She sat with Chiharu, Naoko and the rest while stretching. Every so often wiping her nose when the blood trickled out [A/N: I fell down once on my nose…and it bled all day… +__+]

.:|| **Syaoran** ||:.

When Syaoran got to the soccer field, he heard most of the guys talking about a girl in the cheerleading squad. He wondered what it was about…

"And she went like 'BAM'…she looked real pissed, man,"

"Yeah…she slammed the ground with her arm…haha…"

"Probably had a bad day…"

"Yeah, I heard her dissing Jessica this morning. Hah! That bitch-ass flirt deserved it," Ethan Cohn was saying.

"Hey, who you guys talking about?" Syaoran came in. 

"Yo, Li! Your girlfriend looked real pissed this morning. Did you ditch her or something?" the boys immediately greeted him. "_Girlfriend_? But I don't have a girl–" Syaoran looked confused.

"Its that auburn chick you hang around with," Leo Manton told him. "Sakura? What about her?" Syaoran tried to look relaxed. "Haha, she was so mad just now in the field. You should've seen her rampaging around like a female demon," Ethan said enthusiastically.

"Oh," was all Syaoran could say. What _was_ he suppose to say anyway? Or do? Before the boys could ask him why he hadn't much reaction, the coach came into the conversation and told them to take their positions.

As they all stood in the field while waiting for the ball to come at them, Syaoran took a peek at the cheerleaders. 

They hadn't started yet and he could see Sakura still stretching in her split position. Then she did some flips. He noticed that she kept wiping her nose. Was she crying? She must have felt his gaze because she turned to look at his direction.

"LI! The ball—" someone shouted at him. He turned his head back at the game. But it was too late, the ball rammed into his head so forcefully that he was thrown off the ground, landing a few feet from his previous stand.

.:|| **Sakura's POV** ||:.

I rounded my stretching with some flips. It seemed like a long time since I did it. But it came naturally, strangely. My arms were stronger as though I had more power. 'Weird' I thought on my head-over-heels point of cartwheel. 

I felt as though someone was looking at me. I stood up and looked around and saw _him_ staring at me. He looked away when someone shouted at him. 

The soccer ball smashed into his head.

It happened so fast that I was frozen for a moment. "LI!!!" I shouted without thinking. I started running towards him. It caused a stir in the squad and they, curious, ran after me.

He was blacked out, lying on the ground spread eagle. "Wake up, you jerk! The war hasn't ended yet!" I slapped his face. His team mates were coming up. Praying hard, I made the Time stop time. Everyone else halted mid action. I slapped his face some more, half-crying. 

His head lolled about, lifeless. I squirted half a pint of water into his face and he started coughing. He sat up, shaking his head. Then he saw me, loss for words before saying, "Sakura? Why're you here?" I hadn't even realize what I was doing. My eyes widened.

"Sakura?" he asked again. The time returned and a whole crowd of soccer players mixed with cheerleaders consumed him. He tried to get to me. "SAKURA!!" he shouted amidst all the commotion. I turned and walked away, the feeling of remorse coming back to me.

I half turned back, wondering what it was that made me help him. 'Maybe I'm still in love with him…' I thought. My eyes filled with tears of both confusion and anger. 

**~ Overview of the Next Two Weeks  ~** .:|| **Reader's POV** ||:.

The couple of rehearsal weeks were rather awkward for Sakura and Syaoran. They made no attempt to talk to each other unless absolutely necessary. Tomoyo was most annoyed but kept her temper at check. The kiss scenes were deleted temporarily when the main actors violently refused, supported strongly by Jessica who played, much to her disgust, the Nurse. She had fun torturing Juliet in certain scenes though.

The story line was of the Romeo and Juliet theme. But it was re-written and made into a modern version. The lines had only a tinge of old English but otherwise understood by most people even if they weren't literate with Shakespearean blabber. [A/N: No offence…hehe…] All the music were composed in tune with the current rock-ish fast beat the music industry seemed to be producing nowadays.

But overall, they were very good actors above and below the surface. Sakura managed to severe her temper and Syaoran, his urge to sweep her into his arms willingly.

**~Day Before the Play~**

"Kaijuu, what is this play you never told me about?" Touya asked Sakura, frowning. "SAKUA KAIJUU NANDAMO!!!" Sakura shouted in the phone. "_Itai_!! I'm going to be deaf soon," Touya replied in a distant voice, proving he had held the phone a little further away from himself. Sakura sat back on her seat, contented, silently eating her breakfast.

"So what about the play?" Aiden interrupted in the phone. "I…I…um…forgot–" Sakura answered lamely. "How can she forget about a production when she's acting in it??" Touya retorted in the background. Sakura laughed silently to herself, "Well, I hadn't seen you all year…" "It doesn't mean you forget us, Sakura," Aiden said gently. "SHE FORGOT ABOUT US??!" Touya rampaged about in the backdrop. Sakura sweat dropped. "Gomen, otou-san,  but a lot of things is happening around here…" she replied apologetically, "How did you know about the play anyway?" "Tomoyo's mother was all over it…" Aide answered pleasantly. "THAT'S IT WE'RE GOING TO SEE HER PLAY!" Touya shouted. "We'll see you, Sakura," Aiden said, with a hint of a smile on his face. "Hai, otou-san," Sakura sweat dropped. She hung up.

She looked back at the breakfast table where everyone was staring at her, "What?!" "Who was that you were shouting at?" Meilin asked, her porridge spilling back onto the bowl from her spoon. "Oh, that was Touya, my onii-chan also known as the real monster of the house,"

"Sakura and her brother are always fighting. He's a bit too over-protective of her," Tomoyo nodded. "That's an understatement Tomoyo-chan," Sakura told her. "True…"

Syaoran stared at his plate, thinking, 'This is going to be harder then ever. She's got a mean older brother. Who knows what torture he's capable of doing.' He finished up his breakfast and made an excuse to go to the library. Meilin wondered what was wrong with him.

When it was after-hours, she went into his room only to find out him, sleeping while clutching a book, _Understanding Older Brothers for Dummies_. [A/N: I have no idea whether this book exists…^__–! I don't think so but I think it's a good book for poor souls like Syaoran…hehe…I have the _Japanese for Dummies_ book…my Jap. is improving, so you won't suffer any bad ungrammatical sentences anymore *cheer*]

**~ Night of the Play ~**

Syaoran sat nervously backstage watching the feud played by Chiharu and Takashi on his behalf as the Montague parents. Rika and Ethan were acting as the Capulets, Juliet's parents. The fight was a fiery one, he could see the audience were astounded at the reality of it. '_Great…they'll be disappointed when it comes to me…_' Naoko was narrating, "…and the families parted each time of peacemaking discussion, with even more intense anger built up, unable to split the successful business company fairly enough without the each other's party satisfied. Swearing to be enemies as long as a Capulet or Montague lives. Little do they know what lies in between them, a forbidden love situation…"

"Syaoran! You're up next!" Tomoyo hissed at his side. His heart was beating against his ribs so much it hurt. After the small scene of Benvolio(Leo) telling him to abandon his unrequited love for Rosaline and seek another, the masked ball came up. Romeo's first glimpse of Juliet.

The backstage was in full rush with the change of the settings. Sakura wasn't sighted anywhere. Syaoran's mind raced as he changed into a handsome tuxedo. 'What if she didn't appear? Or she ran away?' He raised his head over the crowd while Tomoyo straightened out the suit and handed him his mask. She wasn't anywhere!

"Sakura–" he started. "Just go!" Eriol pushed him into the stage. Pretending to straighten his bowtie, Syaoran, both in character and real life was nervous. He looked into the audience and saw Meilin giving him a thumbs up. He looked further up the audience and saw Ryce and Jynx looking starry-eyed at the wonderful scenery of the stage. Then he saw her.

Sakura looked dazzling. Her hair, in a perfect French braid which was somehow woven along with green olive leaves. She wasn't exactly wearing a dress though. In fact she was wearing a green top that hugged her body quite enough to show the curves and a soft green gauzy cloth wrapped around her legs.

Syaoran felt his breath taken away. He, though not said in the script, grabbed around wildly for a glass of wine which was carried by a passing waiter. He put it to his lips rather clumsily and several drops actually spilt from his glass. The audience laughed but he wasn't listening to them. All he saw was Sakura. He straightened his cool black leather jacket, quite unaware of what he was doing. He was instead, acting on his real reaction. He sauntered slowly towards the girl.

At the other end, Tybalt (Reid Tyco) was talking to Ethan, the microphone was off them, "Syaoran's seems as though he's just thrown in to act in the play. What's up?" "I dunno. Anyway, who wouldn't when seeing Kinomoto dressed like an angel?" Ethan replied.

A slow waltz strummed up from the orchestra. The crowd paired up quickly, deliberately making a clear way for Romeo to get to Juliet. The lighting focused on them. 

Syaoran's heart was beating somewhere near his Adam's apple. Trying to act composed and 'cool' as the script asked for, he put on a smirk and bowed. Sakura bowed, a little ruffled at his seemingly genuine grin. And they danced, arms draped around each other but talking at the same time.

"Who're you?" they asked at the same time. Their masks blocked each other from knowing the horrible truth. "I–" they started simultaneously. They laughed. The audience giggled among themselves. [A/N: Sounds lame I know…but I can't think of anything humorous for now…=D…forgive me pls… ok, I'll tell you guys what…when I'm referring to Syao and Saku on script, I'll say Romeo and Juliet but if its real for life, I'll say Sakura and Syaoran? Ok? So don't get confused like I did when I re-read this…hehe…]

Juliet accidentally stepped on Romeo's foot. "Ouch!" Romeo blurted out. "Oops…uh…" Juliet looked down, looking embarrassed. "Sorry," she said at last. She grabbed Romeo immediately, noticing that her cousin, Tybalt was watching over them. 

"Wha—?" Romeo was surprised at her sudden aggressiveness. "Can I tell you a secret?" she whispered, looking into his eyes. Syaoran blinked for a moment, the eye-contact was very immersing. "Yeah, sure," he said, regaining himself. 

"I can't dance," Sakura answered. She was answering truthfully as being herself and Juliet both. "Oh," Romeo said, then he leaned over her shoulder and whispered, "I can't dance too. Let's just make the best of this shall we?"

Juliet nodded. And they stepped as much to the beat as they could. Sakura was fumbling, her footsteps were unwittingly clumsy. 'She really can't dance??' Syaoran thought, bewildered. "Don't laugh," she hissed, catching the look on his face.

"I'm not going to," Syaoran answered, hardly hearable. He slid his arms around her waist some more, forcing her to come nearer. He really wasn't thinking, daring to do such a thing. 'I must come out of my shell, here goes nothing' he thought.

"What are you doing?" Sakura asked harshly. The microphone was off them, fortunately, Tybalt was talking to Montague. "Teaching you how to dance," Syaoran answered simply. Sakura glared at him, uncomfortable with his warm body heat radiating against her body. But now that they were closer, she could dance more gracefully, Syaoran's leg brushing hers meant that she needed to move that foot back and so. [A/N: I can't dance either…and I still can't…hehe…] But increasingly awkward and by the time the spotlight returned to them, Sakura's face was positively maroon from flushing so much.

The song ended and it was one of the kiss moments. "Thanks for the dance," she muttered. "Don't I get a reward?" Romeo asked, teasingly. He was joking about it, evidently thinking that the girl wouldn't even answer. Juliet was supposed to give him a kiss straight away but Sakura was so fuming mad and embarrassed that she had half the mind to just walk off. But she had to wait for the Nurse to come calling and the woman wasn't showing up yet.

Sakura reached up, tip-toeing a little, and gave a kiss on the lips. Supposedly to be quick, instead she hung there. 

Syaoran was melting.

The audience were 'Aw'-ing.

The rest of the production crew + cast were widening their eyes to the size of dinner plates.

Jessica Lange was pissed.

Touya was in danger of blowing up his head after making it bald by tearing his hair out if it wasn't for Aiden trying to calm him down.

In other words, it was a kiss like no other and even Sakura knew that. Ecstasy. Plain and simple.

"You kiss by the book," Juliet said when they broke apart. 'Is that true?' Syaoran wondered, panicking.

"Juliet! Your mother calls for you!" the Nurse (Jessica) cut in. Jessica looked far less than content. In fact she looked ready to murder Sakura on the spot. 

"And who is her mother?" Romeo asked curiously. "Her mother is the hostess of this ball," the Nurse answered stiffly, then she turned to Juliet and hurried her away.

Romeo stood at his spot, looking absolutely thwarted. His friend, Mercutio (Eriol), stood beside him, "So who was that chick you danced with?" Romeo turned to him, "She's _not_ a chick. She's an angel from the heavens. Such shame…"

"Why?"

"Her family is the sworn enemy of mine,"

"What? You mean _that_ was Juliet Capulet?"

"Yes. And I am Romeo Montague,"

"You're crazy! We've gotta leave this place before they find out _you_, the enemy, kissed _her_, their little girl,"

And they left, Romeo making a mental note to come back when the party finished.

**~Back-Stage_~_**

Syaoran went behind the stage, loosening the collar of his jacket. He sweating from both his nerves and the heat killing stage lights. He looked around, Tomoyo and Eriol were already talking while passing him glances that said We-know-something-you-don't. And he was irritated. 

"Alright, spit it out, what are you guys up to?" he confronted the couple. "Nothing, my dear descendent. What makes you think we are '_up to something_' ? Surely you trust us not to be that intruding into other people's matters?" Eriol answered smoothly. "No I don't. I'll be watching out for your actions," Syaoran said grimly. Tomoyo smiled even more broadly, "You can try, but I'll doubt you'd find anything suspicious…everything is so…_natural_." 

Syaoran scowled. He didn't like it when he couldn't know anything that he must. Tomoyo's smirk wasn't helpful either. "Hurry up _Romeo_! Your scene is coming up next!" someone called out. "Good luck Syaoran! Nice kiss you had just now," Eriol hollered after him as he walked off. Syaoran's cheeks burned. He jacket was taken off before he entered the stage.

**~The Famous Balcony Scene~**

Sakura appeared on the balcony. She stared off dreamily into the sky scenery, a visionary angel. She was garbed in a white toga dress with soft wings attached at the back. For a moment, she looked as though she might fly off the balcony at any second.

She heard a thud from the shadows in the dark garden below. Juliet squinted her eyes. Someone was cursing. Several bushes rustled. And someone started spouting,

"But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?  
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.  
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,  
Who is already sick and pale with grief,  
That thou her maid art far more fair than she:  
Be not her maid, since she is envious;  
Her vestal livery is but sick and green  
And none but fools do wear it; cast it off."

Juliet raised an eyebrow. "Cut off with the Shakespearean language, stranger, and reveal yourself!" she snapped.

Someone climbed up the ivy. "It's me, fair Juliet," a face appeared in the firelight. Juliet almost flung herself back in fright.

"Do you know who _I_ am, Lady?" he said. Composing herself, she looked into his amber orbs sadly, "A Montague, Romeo Montague. Son of the Count whose family, mine despise."

"And do you despise me?" Romeo asked. Juliet paused and thought, "That is besides the point. You should not–"

"Answer my question," Romeo said firmly.

"I–I –" Juliet stammered.

"Would it help if I said I love you?" he said softly, coming closer.

"You're a–a Montague…We can never be…"

"Then, do not think of me as a Montague! I am just a stranger whose lost his heart to the charm of a beautiful girl,"

Juliet stared hopelessly at him.

"Lady!" the Nurse called for her. Time was running and yet Romeo refused to leave until he has his answer.

"And I'll no longer be a Capulet," Juliet smiled, leaning over to kiss him. 'Ugh…another kiss…' Sakura thought in her mind, 'Mushy…'

Jessica came in at that moment and she had to mutter her last lines for the scene, "Run, Romeo…you are in Capulet grounds if your presence is leaked, you shall surely be killed. I'll meet you soon if the Fates allow us to."

Romeo touched her cheek lingeringly and left. His dark shadow sped off over the wall and disappeared behind it.

**~Narrator~** (Naoko)

"And so the two lovers had to meet in secret while the family's dispute continued onwards… such a sad story the Fates had in stored for them. But in each other's company they enjoyed themselves much as nothing else mattered to them while they fell more and more in love with each other…"

.:|| **Backstage** ||:.

Sakura sat to herself in her dressing room. They had interval, much to her relief. She looked at herself in the mirror.

It all hadn't felt genuine…unreal…yet she could feel a fluttering feeling in her stomach. What was it? It couldn't be…yet maybe it was. But she had vowed…never to… Drawing herself up, she made herself face the truth. And the real truth had hit her like a rock as she said quietly, admitting, "I lo–"

There was a knock on her door. She stopped, shook her head and got up. Opening the door…

"Ryce? Jynx? What are you doing here?" she exclaimed. The two stepped into her room and locked the door. "What are you guys _doing_?!" Sakura asked.

"Listen, girl, Apple…or Sakura…Yaw causin tha dear boy ter feel so damn low. And yer betta make him happier. We've seen him… and he aint happy at all. I know yer love him too much tha' yer even talk about him in yer sleep. Dun yer dare deny tha'! Now yer listen ter me and yer listen good. Stop yer selfish thinking and wallowin yerself in damn self-pity. Admit it ter yerself and tell him tha' yer love him so much tha' it tears yer heart. He mighta've been imperfect the previous time cuz of sum bitch tha' came and intruded yer life. Bu' it was unintentional tha' wench cast a spell on him for goodness sake. He dinna know till the last minute. So dun push the blame on him, yer understand? Everyone makes mistakes and are liable to be forgiven for 'em. We're humans…we aint perfect," Ryce said furiously.

Sakura was speechless for once in her life. "Matter o' factly, Ryce, we aint humans…" Jynx was saying. "Shut up! Tha's besides the point," Ryce snapped, "Now I hope I've knocked some pretty good sense into yer pretty little head." And they left, closing the door behind them quietly.

Sakura was still dumb founded.

**~Last Scene~** [A/N: I'm either a) too lazy to tell the whole story b) thinking its pointless to type out all the long lines or c) plain lazy a.k.a. Let's fast forward shall we?]

–Backstage– Tomoyo was wiping her eyes. The play had gone beautifully. And now it was time to end it all…with the death of the two on-screen lovers. Eriol pat her back. He was secretly amused at his over emotional girlfriend. 

–Front stage–

"Give me that bottle, Balthasar. I wish this would be quick. I can live no longer since my love has died," Romeo said fiercely. "I'll be gone, sir, and not trouble you," Balthasar [Played by Shinae Murimoto] answered.

"Thank you and goodbye. I wish you all the best for your life," Romeo said. Balthasar went off.

Then, Paris (Alex Bowman) came up. "It is due to you, Montague that dear Juliet has died. Now you shall pay," he said. He drew his sword out. "A fight there shall be then, for I am going to die anyways," Romeo answered drawing out _his_ sword. 

They started fencing. Syaoran was restraining his usually fast and aggressive reflexes so that he didn't exactly hurt Alex who was quite accident prone. After some time Alex grew tired and Syaoran did the death thrust. "Oh I am slain!" he pretended, falling to the ground.

Syaoran took out the bottle that was supposedly the poison Romeo was suppose to drink. He drank it, it actually tasted of coke, "The drug is fast. My death shall be painless then." And he laid himself down gently and 'died'.

Eriol appeared as Friar Laurence. He rushed to Syaoran, "Romeo! Who else? What, Paris?  
And soaked in blood? Ah, what an unkind hour is guilty of this woeful chance! The lady stirs!" Juliet got up from her tomb and looked around wonderingly,

"Friar! Where is my Romeo? I remember where I should be, and there I am. Where is my Romeo?"

The Friar looked at her sadly, "Romeo has died, Juliet. He has poisoned himself. Now please flee! I hear a noise coming our way. It doesn't sound friendly at all."

"I absolutely will not!" Juliet raised her high chin. "My lover has died due to me. And I shall die too in his arms. You leave, Friar. And may you lead a prosperous life." Friar Laurence left, rather reluctantly though.

Juliet scanned around and saw a dagger by Romeo's side. Giving him a chaste kiss she stabbed herself and fell strategically beside Romeo.

.:|| **Sakura & Syaoran** ||:.

Sakura turned towards Syaoran's face who was grim. "Syaoran…" she whispered. He didn't stir. They were still on the stage while the last few scenes were going on. 

"Syaoran…" she repeated. He opened his eyes. 

His amber eyes slowly turning towards her. "What?" he whispered back. "I know this is kind of late…but I'm sorry for being so mean to you," Sakura closed her eyes. She opened them up once again, a tear rolling down to the wooden stage. 

Syaoran was startled. "Don't cry," he said, resisting the urge to lift up his hand and wipe away the tear. 

"I'm just so sorry…I was so confused…" 

"It doesn't matter, I wasn't fair either…my senses weren't with me…"

"I was so mean…"

"Never mind about that…I was a jerk anyway,"

"…I just realized it…when someone pointed it out to me…"

"What did you realize?" Syaoran's heart leapt.

"I…love…you…" Sakura beamed. Syaoran grinned widely, "I love you too."

Everyone was getting up. The play had ended. They got up, smiling broadly. Taking each other's hand they stood along with the rest of the cast. And bowed after a "1-2-3…" count. 

Everyone was applauding. The play turned out to be a success. Even Touya, though slightly hot and bothered by the kiss scenes, couldn't deny that his little sister of a monster was quite good after all. 

Ryce and Jynx sneaked off, their little deal was done and victorious. Tomoyo and Eriol were in for a week full of kissing and a month of Eriol being Tomoyo's slave. Neither minded, understandably.

When the auditorium was empty and everyone had left. Sakura and Syaoran stared at each other's eyes, reunited at last. They locked the doors together and walked hand in hand down the hall.

Each vowing to stay, "At your side."

—**_The End_**—

A/N: The ending wasn't really good…I might re-write it but it looks sorta sweet and short. At Your Side is finally finished…I'll miss writing it though…Well…My thank you list is coming on! You can look there if you're interested. 


End file.
